The Storm
by BackInBlack99
Summary: "So" he said in a lazy drawl. "Did you know your top had gone see-through?"   Rachel and Quinn get caught in a storm and go to Finn's to wait it out. Puckleberry goodness ensues.
1. The Storm

**AN: My first attempt at a glee fanfic! **

**In my world Quinn is pregnant and Finn is the father. Puck and Quinn never got together. **

**Disclaimer - I don't own Glee, i only wish i did. **

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The thunder, lightening and gale force winds Rachel could have dealt with. The torrential rain not so much. The heavens had opened in a down poor of epic proportions as they'd left her house and now she could barely see out the front window of her car as she drove to the movies, a heavily pregnant Quinn sitting beside her.

"This is ridiculous" she said tensely, gripping the steering wheel so hard that her knuckles turned white. She was already sat forward on the very edge of her seat, attempting and failing to distinguish blurry shapes in the darkness outside. Every once in a while she'd see the glow of another drivers headlights and swerve away from them towards the sidewalk with a dramatic intake of breath.

"Sweetie" said Quinn in a calming voice. "Maybe you should pull over? You know you don't drive well in the rain."

Rachel scowled. Even at the best of times she didn't respond well to criticism. And this was definitely not the best of times.

"That would be detrimental to our evening's schedule" she snapped in response. "The movie starts at eight and right now it is precisely seven thirty. If we don't keep going we'll be late. Arghh!" A particularly violent clap of thunder sounded above them and she flinched, causing the car to veer off to the right.

"Stop the car Rach" said Quinn firmly. "I am _not _dying on the way to see a trashy chick flick that I didn't want to go to in the first place."

"The review said it was a romantic and humorous must see" said Rachel defensively. "And I thought it would be nice to have some girl time before the baby arrives."

"It is" said Quinn, smiling. "But I'd rather we didn't have girl time at E.R. You've nearly crashed twice."

"Fine" Rachel sighed and slowed down so she could pull in to the side of the road. With the engine off, the rain pounding on the roof of the car was deafening.

"We'll sit it out till it stops" she shouted over the noise. "If it ever stops."

"_Dude, it's so not going to storm_" said Quinn gruffly, in a good imitation of Puck. "That's the last time I listen to that boy, especially where the weather's concerned."

"I tell you repeatedly to ignore him" Rachel grumbled. "Everything he says is either crass, insulting or entirely _wrong – _why are you laughing?"

Rachel glared at her friend and Quinn pressed her lips together, struggling to keep her laughter under control.

"What did I say?" Rachel demanded. She sometimes wondered if spending so much time around Finn had caused the Cheerio's brain to soften somewhat. She'd found the two of them laughing the other day and upon asking them what was funny, been given the reply "we just realised our names rhyme". She felt that was pretty good evidence to back up her theory.

"Nothing" said Quinn, still trying to keep a straight face. "It's just that – Oh Rach, can't you see how perfect you two are for each other?"

"_Excuse me_?" said Rachel incredulously. Perhaps along with morning sickness Quinn was experiencing immense delusion as a side effect of her pregnancy. "We are _not_ perfect for each other."

"You really are!" the blonde maintained earnestly. "Rachel Puckerman. Has a nice ring to it don't you think?"

Rachel gaped at her. "We are talking about Noah here right? As in Noah "I'm a badass" Puckerman. The most infuriating boy _on the planet_."

"Yup" said Quinn cheerfully.

"But all he does is make rude and offensive comments about me!"

"Exactly! The sexual tension between you makes me nervous."

Rachel mouthed wordlessly at the girl beside her. "You've – completely – wrong end of the stick."

"You should see the way you look at him during Glee" continued Quinn, sensing that she was on to a winner. "When he sings your expression goes all soft."

Rachel spluttered indignantly. "I just happen to appreciate a good singing voice when I hear one! It has nothing to do with Noah himself."

"Whatever, Rach. You've got it and you've got it bad."

"I refuse to continue with this conversation" said Rachel flatly, folding her arms.

"Puck likes you too you know" said Quinn coaxingly, with a sidelong glance at her friend. "Why do you think he always waits by your locker before school?"

"Because my locker's next to yours and Finn always waits for you and Noah's always with Finn" stated Rachel matter of factly.

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Look, I know they take bro-mance to a whole new level, but they're not joined at the hip. He doesn't have to be there every morning. He could be off doing whatever it is he does – "

"Slushying people?" Rachel quirked an eyebrow.

"Or dumpst'ing them" agreed Quinn, shrugging off this complete lack of morals with a wave of her hand. "The point is, he hangs around for you."

"We're not talking about this anymore" Rachel informed her. "In fact, I stopped listening several minutes ago."

"_And_ he always does this really cute little smile after you've had a conversation" Quinn went on, unperturbed. "Like when you're walking away, he'll chuckle to himself."

"Smirk more like" said Rachel darkly.

At this last comment, Quinn seemed to catch on to Rachel's mood and frowned. "Honestly. I'm telling you that the hottest guy in school is crushing on you and you don't seem to care."

"I very much doubt that Noah has ever "crushed" on anyone in his life" said Rachel tartly, leaning her head back against the seat and closing her eyes. For some reason, talking about the self proclaimed "Puckster" was giving her a headache.

"What do you mean?" Quinn asked.

"I'm sure that Noah would have charmed any girl he liked into bed before it got to the crushing stage."

"Which must mean that he really _really_ likes you" Quinn beamed. "It's very romantic you know. The reformed badass falling for the star of Glee. You could mention him in your Tony acceptance speech."

"Flattery will get you nowhere" said Rachel loftily. But unbidden, the image of a certain Mohawked person dressed in a tux and leading her up the red carpet to a glamorous award ceremony crept into her mind. Strangely – or disconcertingly, whichever way you wanted to look at it – the idea didn't strike her as too implausible. The Mohawk would definitely have to go though, she thought abstractly.

"I think that with you, flattery will get me everywhere" said Quinn, breaking into her thoughts.

Rachel laughed, half at herself. Had she really just imagined Puck as part of her future? The storm must be getting to her.

"Maybe you're right" she told Quinn. "And granted, Noah and I seem to have entered into some form of "friendship" –" she paused to make quotation marks with her fingers, "since he joined Glee. But he will forever and always be the boy who slushied me on my first day of high school."

"People change Rach" said Quinn distractedly, getting her cell out of her pocket and flipping it open. "Finn just text me. He wants to know why we're parked outside his house but haven't come in."

"We're what?"

"Oh my God we are!" said Quinn, peering out the window into the dark. "I couldn't tell because of all the rain. Do you want to go in?"

"Well we've missed the movie now" said Rachel, only a tad resentfully. "Plus I could do with a coffee."

"Let's go then."

Quinn put her hood up and then struggled to get out, while Rachel undid her seatbelt, slammed her door shut and hurried round to the other side of the car so she could help. The two girls walked as quickly as possible – which wasn't very, considering Quinn's state – along the road and up Finn's drive, Rachel holding firmly onto Quinn's arm to make sure she didn't slip. By the time they got under the porch and had rung the bell, both of them were thoroughly soaked.

"It's freezing!" Rachel moaned, as her wet haired dripped ice cold water down her back.

"Talk about a water birth" agreed Quinn, the cold causing her teeth to chatter slightly.

"Don't joke about that!" said Rachel anxiously. "I've had nightmares for weeks about you going into labour when it's just us in the middle of nowhere."

"When are we ever in the middle of nowhere?"

Before Rachel could launch into a series of hypothetical labour crisis situations, Finn opened the door.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

"Long story. Let us in first!" Quinn pushed him lightly in the chest so that he stepped back and let her past. Rachel followed her inside and was thankful to find that Finn's house, though slightly untidy, was incredibly warm. As she pulled her soaking coat off and handed it to him with a grateful smile, a loud snort sounded from the lounge.

"Dude, you swim here?"

Rachel closed her eyes and let out a low groan; she'd recognise that mocking tone anywhere. Why did bad things always seem to happen to good people?

"Very funny" she heard Quinn say. "This is all your fault you know."

"Rach, you go on through" Finn told her, as he hung her coat up. "I'll go order us some pizza."

With a sinking feeling Rachel went into the next room, thinking that the very last thing she needed when she looked like a drowned rat was the low brow witticisms of Noah Puckerman. The lounge was small and cosy, a massive t.v. in one corner with a load of x-box games strewn across the floor and a fireplace taking up most of the opposite wall. Quinn was already seated in a squashy armchair and Puck was sprawled out on the only remaining sofa, his feet propped up on the armrest. At the sight of Rachel looking decidedly irritated and bedraggled, dripping water onto the carpet, he burst out laughing.

"Yo Berry" he said, when his chuckles had finally subsided. "Lookin' good."

"Noah" she said stiffly, trying to ignore his smirk. "What are you doing here?"

"Hanging out" he shrugged. "We were gunna watch _Zombie Force 3_ but I guess that's out now you're here."

"Why would you think that?" snapped Rachel, annoyed by his earlier comment. "Just because we're girls doesn't mean we don't like horror movies. I can't believe how sexist you are at times."

Puck raised an eyebrow. "You so totally wouldn't be able to handle _Zombies_. But that's not what I meant."

"What did you mean then?"

"Last time we watched it Quinn chucked up" he smirked.

Rachel wrinkled her nose in distaste and they both turned to look at the blonde. Quinn had the decency to look embarrassed.

"It was gross" she said defensively. "This guys head came off and blood was spurting everywhere." She shuddered at the memory. "Then the zombies started eatingpeople and stuff."

Rachel patted her on the shoulder sympathetically, while Puck grinned.

"That was awesome."

"What was awesome?" said Finn, coming into the room holding a couple cans of beer and a box of pizza. He chucked a beer to Puck who, much to Rachel's disappointment, caught it effortlessly.

"Zombie Force" said Puck.

"Aw man, that movie is sweet!" agreed Finn. "How immense was it when the dude with the scars got the chainsaw and –" He trailed off as he caught sight of Quinn, who'd turned a delicate shade of green.

"Oops."

"Boys are so insensitive" muttered Rachel.

"Sorry" said Finn apologetically, taking a cup of camomile tea over to Quinn (it was one of her pregnancy whims) and ruffling her hair. "You don't feel sick do you?" he asked nervously.

"I'll be fine" she said, taking the drink from him and smiling at his expression. "Don't worry; I'll make sure I go to the toilet if I do."

"Cool. It's just it took me months to get the stain out the carpet last time. You want anything Rach?" Finn asked, turning and offering her a beer. "I forgot."

She shook her head. "I don't consume alcohol. It's not good for the vocal cords."

Puck rolled his eyes and was about to make a derisive comment about how it was good for his eyes if he had to look at her when a huge rumble of thunder shook the house and they were thrown into darkness. Rachel instantly froze, not wanting to move in case Finn had any pets which she might inadvertently stand on and kill. Ok, it wasn't likely, but one of the things you learnt from being a star was that you had to be prepared for every eventuality.

"Err, guys?" Finn's disembodied voice floated across the room. "I'm blind."

Puck snorted. "It's a powercut, dumbass."

"Oh."

"Finn, where are you?" Quinn sounded nervous.

"Over here. Hang on, I'm coming – "

"Ow! That was my foot you imbecile!"

"Sorry Rach, I was trying to get to Quinn."

There was a crash as Finn walked into the table.

"The fuck's happening?" Puck asked casually.

"Noah!"

"Who the shit else would it be Berry?"

"I wasn't asking if it was you, I was merely admonishing you for your foul use of language."

"Oh."

"I just hit the table" Finn informed them. "My bad. Hey Puck, is that you?"

"Dude, you just walked into my chest. Note the lack of boobs. I sure as hell ain't Quinn or Berry."

"Well, it's dark. I wasn't sure…"

"Fuck! It's dark?"

"Noah!" said Rachel again.

"Stop being a douche" Quinn told him.

"Yes m'aam."

"How come you're not that polite to me?" asked Rachel indignantly.

Though she couldn't see him, she sensed the shrug. "Don't mess with pregnant women."

"Ouch!" Quinn moaned.

"What's up?" asked Finn, sounding panicked. "The baby's not coming is it?"

"Oh help!" yelped Rachel. "I knew something like this would happen. We're miles away from the hospital in the pitch black!"

"Guys relax, I just stood on the x-box controls."

"Thank God. I'm so not ready to be a dad."

"Finn!"

"Sorry… joking…"

Just then the lights flickered back on. Finn was revealed half way across the room with his arms stretched out in front of him like a sleepwalker, further away from Quinn than he'd started. Puck was still lying on the sofa, though Rachel noticed that half the pizza seemed to have mysteriously disappeared.

"You ok?" Finn asked, hurrying over to where Quinn was standing. "Do you need anything?"

"I'm fine Finn." Quinn rolled her eyes. "It's not like the dark's going to induce labour."

"Oh ok. Cool. I guess I'll go get some candles in case it happens again."

"What are you, eighty?" asked Puck. "Don't you have a torch?"

"Nope" said Finn. "I dropped it in the pond the other day when I was looking for sharks. Mike told me that sometimes when you buy fish from the pet store they're actually shark babies and that you don't know until they grow to like, a killer size."

Puck shook his head as his best friend left the room, wondering how the hell Finn hadn't been put in special ed.

"I'll go with him" said Quinn, struggling to her feet. "As if he knows where his mom keeps the matches, let alone the candles."

Once she'd left the room Rachel shuffled slightly, feeling awkward to be left alone just her and Puck. It wasn't that she was worried they'd have nothing to say to each other, but rather _what _Puck would say. A second later, her fears were confirmed.

"So" he said in a lazy drawl. "Did you know your top had gone see-through?"

Rachel quickly looked down to find that her top was indeed completely transparent.

"Noah! I demand that you avert your eyes immediately!" she cried, folding her arms across her chest as she spoke. She was half mortified and half relieved that she'd at least put on a nice bra this morning. Not that it mattered what Noah thought of her underwear…

"Chill, Berry. It's nothing I haven't seen before."

"I don't doubt that" she retorted frostily.

He smirked. "Jealous?"

"I'm appalled you could even suggest that. I – Argh!"

Rachel yelped as another rumble of thunder sounded above the house. A second later the lights cut out again and they were plunged back into darkness.

"Noah?" she called nervously across the room. There was no reply. Muttering to herself about the weather conditions she fumbled her way over to the sofa.

"Noah where did you go?"

There was still no answer.

"Noah please respond – oof!"

Rachel felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist and then she was knocked backwards onto the sofa with such force that she was surprised when she landed so gently.

Puck wasn't entirely sure why he'd rugby tackled Rachel, but he knew it had something to do with the sight of her see through blouse.

"Noah." Rachel sounded nervous, but her voice was filled with something else too. Her breath tickled his neck and as she spoke Puck became very aware of her body pressed against his, her hands pinned helplessly to his chest.

"Yeah?" he whispered into her hair. He knew his own voice sounded rough and breathless. Rachel shivered underneath him and he smirked at the effect he was having on her.

"What are you –?"

But her question was cut short as Puck bent his head and caught her lips with his own. At first he expected her to push him away, but after a moment her arms wrapped around his neck and she was arching her back to get closer to him. He groaned in satisfaction and ran his tongue along her lower lip, begging for entry. When she granted it he began exploring her mouth, kissing her with fierce urgency while his hand made its way slowly up her thigh. At this Rachel knotted her fingers in his hair and elicited a low moan of her own. Puck was so turned on at this point that he didn't even notice the lights coming back on. It was only when Finn coughed and Rachel pulled away from him that he realised they had an audience. Raising his head, he looked down to see Rachel staring up at him, her eyes glazed with desire, her cheeks flushed and hectic.

He grinned. "Turns out the storm wasn't so bad."

Despite being incredibly embarrassed that Quinn and Finn were seeing her in such a compromising position, and aware that she would have to lay down some ground rules before her and Puck entered into any form of relationship, Rachel couldn't help but smile back at him. "Not bad at all" she said. "Storm's are definitely underrated."

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**Oneshot at the moment, but could be longer if people want. **

**Please R&R :) **


	2. Aftermath

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! The feeback is much appreciated :) **

**Hopefully this next chapter will work after the intended one-shot. **

**Sadly, i don't own glee...**

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It was Sunday evening and Rachel and Quinn were sprawled out on Rachel's bed, eating homemade cookies and listening to Celine Dion. At least, Rachel was listening – intently, and taking notes. Quinn was trying her very best to block out "Taking Chances". It wasn't that she didn't like the song, or appreciate the enthusiastic running commentary Rachel was giving her, but she felt that the lyrics were a bit too close to home. Taking chances was precisely the reason why she'd ended up pregnant and despite the fact that she loved Finn and knew he would be a great dad, she still had regrets. The biggest of which was her recent loss of bladder control.

"Rach, can you help me up?" she asked, cutting the brunette off mid spiel. "I need the toilet again."

Rachel sat up anxiously. "That's the third time in twenty minutes. Are you sure this is normal? You don't think we need to go to the hospital do you?"

Quinn rolled her eyes at her panicked expression. It was sweet that Rachel took such an active interest in her pregnancy, but sometimes she went overboard in her eagerness to help. The colour coded list of pre-natal vitamins and emergency phone numbers taped to her fridge, her freezer, her bedside table, her TV and her bathroom mirror was living proof of just that.

"The baby's just in an awkward position" she said. "Relax."

"Because it's only two weeks until your due date" Rachel continued, ignoring Quinn's advice as she helped heave her to her feet. "We have to make sure everything's ok."

"Everything _is_ ok. Well, if ok includes backache, insomnia and a stomach the size of a beach ball." Quinn said this with only a tinge of bitterness. She missed her regular clothes and despite the fact her cheerio's uniform now hung at the very back of her closet, it was still a painful reminder of the days when doing a round off wouldn't cause the baby to crown. Miss Sylvester's words, not hers.

"I don't think I'll ever fit into the dress I bought for homecoming" she sighed.

Rachel heard the despondency in her friend's voice and immediately set about attempting to avert a mood swing. They had become more drastic in the last few months and she was keen to avoid another crying session that would inevitably end in her having to go out and buy at least ten tubs of Ben and Jerry's.

"You'll look beautiful whatever you wear, you have that lovely pregnancy glow" she told Quinn coaxingly. "And even though you seem to have become increasingly clumsy in your third trimester, it hasn't put you _entirely_ off balance during glee rehearsals."

"Thanks" said Quinn sarcastically. "You really know how to give a girl a compliment."

Rachel laughed. "Look on the bright side. You're still much more co-ordinated than Finn!"

"True" Quinn agreed as she crossed the room. "I'm eternally amazed by his ability to confuse his rights with his lefts."

"And his ups with his downs."

"And his forwards and backwards…." She was lost in thought for a moment. "His mom once told me she dropped him on his head as a baby."

Rachel didn't say anything out loud, but privately felt that this would explain a lot. Finn had an excellent singing voice – not quite exceptional enough to match hers obviously, but whose was? – And more skill on the football field than the majority of the McKinley team (although again, that wasn't saying much – they'd lost seven of their last eight matches). But nobody would claim he was the sharpest tack in the drawer. In fact, if metaphorical tacks were anything to go by, he probably wouldn't make it into the drawer.

"I might not let him hold our baby for a few months after she's born" said Quinn meditatively. "Just in case."

"Perhaps that would be wise" said Rachel, nodding. "Still, he's very considerate of your condition. Under my instruction he packed up a bag of clothes for you and keeps them in his locker in case your water breaks at school and we have to go straight to the hospital."

"I don't think he'll be safe to drive me when it happens" said Quinn, turning back to her at the door. "Remember that time he thought I was having contractions and practically passed out? I'm going to have to get Puck to take us in his truck."

"I'm not sure it would be wise to trust Noah's questionable driving at such an important moment" said Rachel sternly. "That vehicle is nothing short of a death trap."

"Don't let him hear you say that" Quinn grinned. "He'll break up with you on the spot. He loves that truck. Possibly more than he loves dip, and that's saying something."

"I know" Rachel sighed, but she couldn't help smiling slightly at the reminder that she and Noah were dating. Admittedly they'd only been together for three days, and he still retained the ability to make her want to beat him to death with her score of Les Mis, but the idea of him being _hers_ was extremely gratifying.

Quinn rolled her eyes at Rachel's softened expression. "So what time are they picking us up?"

"Half past seven" said Rachel promptly. "I've told Noah that if he wants to remain my boyfriend he has to learn to be punctual. It's an essential life skill."

"I think you might be on to a losing battle with that one. Anyway, when are you going to say it?"

Rachel frowned. "Say what?"

"How right I was" said Quinn smugly, a superior smile lighting up her face. "I told you you were perfect for each other!"

"Go to the toilet Fabray" Rachel said, laughing. "The last thing I need is you having an accident on my carpet."

"Fine" said Quinn as she left the room. "But I hope this will teach you never to doubt me again!"

Smiling, Rachel walked back over to the bed and sat down. It was unlikely that she and Noah were perfect for each other. Granted, his mom had nearly died with happiness when he told her he was dating a nice Jewish girl and when they sung together there was an undeniable sexual frisson, but really, when it came down to it, they were completely unsuited. But perhaps that was what she needed in her life – Jesse had been her male counterpart and look at where that debacle had left her; alone, and smelling of eggs. Maybe Noah, with his complete lack of regard for all of her interests, would be able to handle her when she got too demanding. Inevitably, her thoughts were drawn back to Friday night and the aftermath of the storm.

_At Finn's polite cough, she had hurriedly untangled herself from Puck and moved as far away from him as the couch would allow. He didn't try to stop her, just folded his arms across his chest and smirked in a way that made her want to slap him, or scream at him, or both. In an attempt to make herself look a little bit more presentable – she was well aware that her hair must look ridiculous and had an inkling that he had somehow managed to undo the top two buttons on her blouse – she smoothed out the creases in her skirt before looking hesitantly up. Quinn watching her, trying to fight back a grin. _

"_Having an interesting conversation were we?" she asked in amusement. _

_Rachel blushed and tried not to meet her eye. "We were just talking… and the lights went off again...completely accidental" she mumbled. _

_Quinn raised an eyebrow. "And you just happened to end up in Puck's lap?" _

"_I was trying to get my bearings by finding the sofa" Rachel said defensively. "It was pitch black! I couldn't see a thing, and then –"_

"_Berry threw herself at me" said Puck casually, as he stretched his legs out. "I tend to have that effect on women." _

_Finn laughed. "Nice one dude" he complimented him, and the two boys bumped fists. Puck turned back to Rachel grinning. _

"_Noah Puckerman!" Rachel was aghast. "You know full well who tackled whom. I demand that you take that back immediately!" _

_Puck shrugged. "Can't deny the truth babe." _

_At the outraged expression on Rachel's face, Quinn took Finn's arm and began directing him out of the room. "I think we should go hang out in the kitchen" she told him. _

"_But we were just in the kitchen" said Finn, his brow wrinkling in confusion. "It's cold in there." _

"_Trust me" she said as she pushed him out the door. "It's about to get a lot frostier in here. Boys" she added under her breath. "No sense of subtlety whatsoever!" _

_After they'd left, Rachel remained silent – partly to give them a chance to get out of hearing distance and partly because she was still too incensed to speak. As if she had thrown herself at him! He was the one who had entirely compromised her honour and then had the audacity to claim she was the one who had instigated the kiss. But had she honestly felt that compromised? The feel of Puck's hands on her had been a cool relief, a breaking of tension like rainclouds bursting on a heavy, humid day. As she sat there, her mind going over the last five minutes her anger began to dwindle and be replaced with an overwhelming sense of awkwardness. She did like him. Yes, he was the most annoying boy she had ever encountered, but his lips moving against hers and the way that had made her feel had somehow cancelled that all out. But what if he didn't feel the same?_

"_Well" she said stiffly, shifting in her seat. It was the least loquacious moment of her life. _

"_Well what?" Puck asked, sounding entirely too self satisfied for her liking. _

"_What's going to happen now?" she asked quietly. She hadn't realised until she'd said it aloud how much the answer to that question meant to her. _

_In response, Puck moved along the couch and closed the distance between them again, his sudden proximity causing her heart to pick up speed. She could feel the heat radiating from his body as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. _

"_What do you want to happen?" he said in a low voice, his lips brushing her ear. _

_She tried to keep her thoughts rational, which was hard considering the way his hand was moving up her leg. "I don't know – I think I want to… I mean – is this just another hook up for you?" _

_Puck chuckled. "You're not the kind of girl you just hook up with." _

_She frowned, catching hold of his hand before it slipped under her skirt. "And what's that supposed to mean?" _

_He sighed, slowly pulling away so he could see her face. "This isn't just a hook up Rachel. You're the queen of high maintenance. No way is anyone getting mixed up in your crazy unless they're in it for the long haul." _

_Rachel felt herself break into a smile. "Despite the critical and somewhat insulting nature of that comment Noah, that was actually quite romantic." _

_Puck pretended to look wounded. "Why the tone of surprise?" _

"_Up until now, I'd have thought your idea of romance was deciding not to slushy someone" she teased. _

"_There are a lot of things you don't know about me" Puck murmured, and the huskiness in his voice caused the warm feeling in her tummy to spread down between her thighs. _

"_Like what?" she asked breathlessly. _

_He grinned a devastating grin and reached forward to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Like the fact I've been waiting months for this to happen" he said, leaning in towards her and kissing her softly on the lips. "Like the fact I can't stand not to be around you, even when you're going shit crazy during glee rehearsals." He began to work a line of kisses down her jaw. "Like the fact that even though they're the lamest thing I've ever seen your knee socks actually turn me on." _

"_You know what else?" Rachel whispered, tilting her head back so he had better access to her throat. _

"_What?" _

_She shivered as his hand brushed gently against the small of her back, pushing her closer to him. "You have absolutely no regard for personal space." _

_Puck laughed and pulled her towards him so she was lying against his chest. "You say that like it's a bad thing." _

_Rachel snuggled up to him, eyes closed. "So does this mean we're dating?" she asked. "No more cheerio's? Because I'm not standing for anything less Noah." _

"_I'm now a one woman man" Puck declared confidently. Then he frowned. "Man, that sounds depressing." _

_Rachel slapped his arm. "Noah!" _

"_Nah it's cool. I've done the rounds with the Cheerio's anyway." _

_She pushed against his chest so she could raise her head and meet his eye. Her expression was stern. _

_He grinned. "Joking babe." _

"_We are both aware that you're not joking Noah Puckerman." _

_He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I've slept with them. And you know what? They were as dull as fuck." _

_She wasn't sure why it made her so happy to hear him say this, but it did. _

"_Really?" _

"_Rach, I had to sleep my way through the entire squad to forget about you when you were dating that Jesse dude." _

"_I'm not sure whether to be horrified or pleased." _

"_Or impressed?" _

_She giggled. "I'm not congratulating you on your sexual conquests Noah." _

"_You don't need to" he smirked. "You're about to become one." _

_His words gave her butterflies. "So that's all I am to you?" she asked, smiling so he would know she was teasing him. "A conquest?" _

"_Not just a conquest" he said. "A hot, sexy conquest." _

_Then they were both laughing and that's how Quinn and Finn had found them when they'd tentatively come back in. _

Opposites were supposed to attract, mused Rachel as she nibbled one of the chocolate chip cookies. The unlikely relationship that had developed between Santana and Artie was evidence enough for that. She remembered the afternoon when the cheerio had wheeled Artie into rehearsals, neither of them able to keep the smiles off their faces until Mr Schue had started rapping and ruined everyone's day – seriously, would he just stop? It wasn't big and it wasn't funny. Artie had been helping coach Santana for a math exam and one thing had led to another and they'd been dating ever since. Santana was still a bit of a bitch, but Artie had been a good influence on her.

"Hey Rach" said Quinn, breaking her out of her thoughts as she re-entered the room. "Puck's just pulled up in your drive. Look's like he can be on time after all."

"I told you he would be" Rachel gloated. "He understands my needs." She didn't mention that one of the stipulations of him getting any form of action tonight had been arriving on time. Sexual blackmail was not something she would usually condone, but with Puck she felt that it would be the most effective way of getting results.

"And do you understand _his_ needs?" Quinn smirked, getting her jacket from the bed and putting it on. "He gave Finn a lift here, so we're all ready to go."

"The majority of his needs are carnal" said Rachel as they went downstairs. "And I'm sure I'll be able to handle them. I've got an idea that will work his needs entirely to my advantage."

Quinn laughed. "I'm not sure I want to know."

"_He's_ not going to know what's hit him" said Rachel, winking at the other girl before pulling open the front door.

She was a bit surprised to find Finn standing on the porch, looking at the door in confusion. His face brightened up when he saw her. "Oh hey Rach. I couldn't find your doorbell!"

"We don't have a doorbell" she told him kindly as Quinn groaned quietly from behind her. "You have to use the knocker."

"Oh. Cool." He looked contented for a second before his smile faded again. "Wait. How do you know that somebody's at the door then. Like, from inside the house? What do you do if you order Pizza?"

"We hear the knocking, Finn." Rachel was starting to think that maybe Mrs Hudson had dropped him on his head a lot more than once.

"Awesome" he said, smiling at Quinn as she came out the house. He went up the steps and kissed her before offering to hold her bag. "Let's go, Puck's waiting in the truck. You can take shotgun Rach."

As Finn helped Quinn slowly down the garden path, Rachel walked ahead of them to the truck. Puck grinned as she climbed into the front seat.

"So, I got here on time…" he said, letting the end of the sentence tail off suggestively.

After she'd shut the door, Rachel leant across and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "There you go" she said, smiling innocently. "Full payment."

"Dude, I totally drove over the speed limit to make it here before half seven!" Puck complained. "I endangered Finn's life for you and all I get is a kiss on the cheek?"

Rachel cocked her head to the side. "It's only the first date. What did you expect?"

"Technically this is the second date, if you count Friday" Puck smirked. "Which means I expect hot sex in the back of the truck."

"Well that all depends" said Rachel coyly, lowering her voice as Finn and Quinn got in the back.

"On what?" asked Puck, feeling himself harden as Rachel bit down slowly on her bottom lip.

"On where you take me on our third date" she said, and this time it was her turn to smirk. "There's a production of Evita being performed at the Jewish community centre. Everybody else is refusing to go with me. So take me to that…" she shrugged delicately. "And I'm all yours."

Puck groaned inwardly as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a proper kiss. Evita was on the list of things that made him want to set himself alight. But Rachel wasn't playing fair.

"You know I'm all for musical theatre" he said against her lips and felt her smile in return.

Fuck. Rachel Berry had him pussy whipped and he hadn't even got into her pants.

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**Next chapter there will be more Puck/Rachel getting used to being in a relationship. And probably Finn getting confused again :) **

**Please review! **


	3. Blue Skies

**A/N: Thank you again for all the reviews :) they make my day! **

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Puck was trying; he honestly was, but no amount of feeling Rachel up under the table was going to make this experience any less excruciating (And yeah, excruciating was a big word. But so what? It wasn't like he hadn't known any before he started dating her. The rumour that she was giving him vocabulary lessons was totally untrue… kind of.)

"So Noah" said Rachel's dad as he poured himself a glass of wine – Daddy was off preparing desert in the kitchen. It was going to be fucking good by the smell of it, but this shouldn't have been a surprise if Rachel's baking ability was anything to go by; her cookies could win over harder men than him. Not that there were harder men out there. The Fight Club he'd set up in eighth grade was living proof of that (it had also gotten him two months of detention after Mike had gone home with a broken hand, but some things were best forgotten). Anyway, the whole meal had tasted like the posh crap from that downtown restaurant his mom sometimes dragged him to during Hanukkah – all three courses of it – and he was starting to see why Rachel and Quinn referred to dinner at his house as "slumming it". Not that there was anything wrong with Pizza, but it sure as hell wasn't foie gras – yeah, they'd actually had it.

"You like to play sports I gather? Which discipline to you most prefer?"

It had been like this all evening. From small shit about his mom and glee club and how well he wanted his steak done, to whether he felt the local Jewish community had helped foster a sense of well-being in him from an early age – "because I know Rachel found comfort in baking for the annual summer picnics. Giving back is _so _important to her." He was waiting for them to go full out Spanish Inquisition on his ass and demand to know if he'd got round to defiling their daughter. Which he hadn't. Yet.

"Yeah. I'm pretty into football" he shrugged. "You play?"

Rachel, who was sitting beside him and jumping in every time he started to say something inappropriate, laughed. "Dad is completely uncoordinated. He can never understand where I get my incredible poise from. Which is silly of course, because I inherited it from daddy. He used to coach little league."

"Which is how we met" said her dad, smiling. "I was out taking my customary morning walk through the park. It was a lovely sunny day, when all of a sudden –"

"Richard" said Rachel's other dad sternly, as he came back into the room carrying a trifle. "You don't need to bore the kid's with our stories. I'm sure they get quite enough of that at school. Now Noah, why don't you tell us all about your music? Rachel informs us that you play the guitar."

Puck groaned inwardly. Great. It looked like the Berry's demented version of twenty questions was far from over.

"Err, I've been playing since I was ten" he told them, glancing sidelong at Rachel. She gave him an encouraging smile. "Rock songs mostly, but I've done other stuff for glee. Me and Rach are doing a Beatles duet on Monday."

"How lovely!" Rachel's dad beamed. "Which song?"

"Hello Goodbye" said Rachel immediately. "It went to number one in both the US and UK charts. We felt it would be an appropriate homage."

"How about a little preview? We could film it and upload it to your MySpace page!"

Puck could feel his badass reputation disappearing down the drain right there, but Rachel must have seen the tightening of his jaw, because she placed a calming hand on his knee and shook her head.

"Noah didn't bring his guitar daddy. And we really need to rehearse more before it's presentable to the wider public."

"Oh. Well perhaps another time then. Trifle Noah?"

"Sure. Look's good Mr Berry."

Ok, so he sounded like a complete lame ass. Actually no, he sounded like Finn. But being polite wouldn't just get him brownie points with the rents, it would please Rachel. And aside from wanting his girl to be happy, doing something for her would mean he'd get something in return (gotta love her fine tuned sense of justice).

"Thank you" her dad said, smiling at him. "It's an old Berry family recipe."

Puck accepted a gigantic bowl full and Rachel gave him a glowing look. As he scooped up a big spoonful of cream and custard, her other dad nodded his head approvingly.

"Well, it's certainly nice to see a boy with a healthy appetite. The last person that Rachel brought home, Jesse, ate less than she did. Watching his weight apparently, so he could fit into his unitard."

"Yeah, my appetite's _real_ big" Puck smirked, shooting Rachel a wink. "Definitely bigger than Jesse's…"

Rachel stifled a giggle and kicked him under the table.

"Incidentally, we heard that Jesse was attacked after your defeat at Regionals last month" said Rachel's dad casually. "Didn't we Simon?"

"Yes Richard. We heard from Miss Corcoran that the rest of Vocal Adrenaline found him with a black eye and bloodied nose."

"Apparently, he was trying to climb out of a dumpster."

"I wonder what ever could have happened."

After this announcement there was silence, apart from the sound of Rachel's spoon scraping an uneasy rhythm on the bottom of her bowl.

"I think – most probably someone from a rival team" she said after a pause, her eyes flicking quickly to Puck then returning to look at the table. "Somebody jealous of their admittedly ludicrous victory. Perhaps a member of Aural Intensity?"

"Quite possible of course" her dad murmured and Puck saw the two men exchanging amused looks.

Fuck. They totally knew it was him. He'd pounded on the asshole when he'd made Rachel cry and yeah, maybe shutting him in the dumpster had been a step too far but come on, it was his trademarked move. And the jerk had left her at rock bottom, with no trophy, no Nationals and no boyfriend. What the hell was he supposed to have done? Graciously accept defeat? Not fucking likely.

"The guy deserved everything he got" he said shortly, gripping his spoon in a clenched hand. If they weren't down with him protecting her honour and shit, then what kind of messed up parents were they?

"Again, most probable" Rachel's dad agreed. "We're just glad there's someone out there looking after our little girl." His eyes found Puck's and he raised an eyebrow. "Don't you agree, Noah?"

Puck nodded, relieved. Because ok, they weren't exactly giving him the green light to go fuck their daughter, but he got that this was there way of letting him know he was good enough for her. Which he suspected he definitely wasn't, seeing as he was already working out how this "trust" could work to his advantage.

Fifteen minutes later and he and Rachel were up in her room with the door firmly shut behind them and he had her moaning under him on the bed. A few slyly dropped comments about how he'd never seen _Gone with the Wind _and her dad's had sent them away instantly to rectify this.

"Does that feel good babe?" he whispered, as his hands slipped under her shirt and made their way up to the lace of her bra (the dvd lay forgotten on the floor.)

"Mmm, yes Noah. Don't stop."

Rachel squirmed as his fingers brushed her breast and he grinned. It was just too easy to get her hot.

"How about this?" he asked, starting to work his lips down from her mouth, along her collar bone, back up to her throat. He sucked gently on the tender skin just below her ear. "You want more Rach?"

"Yes Noah. I do. I want you to –"

But whatever it was that she wanted him to do – and he had plenty of suggestions – was cut off as her phone beeped. Sighing, she pushed him lightly on the chest and he rolled off her reluctantly so she could check the message.

"It's from Finn" she said, her voice still husky. The sound of it made him want to grab her damn pink glittery phone and chuck it across the room so he could get on with making her moan his name.

"Dude. Totally cock blocked" he groaned.

"He wants to know why you aren't answering your phone" she said, frowning.

"Are you _serious_?"

The guy was worse than Santana. When they were dating she'd text him every two seconds to make sure he wasn't with another girl. Which, you know, he usually was, but it didn't make it any less annoying.

"I think you should call him back Noah" Rachel told him. "It's rude to ignore your best friend."

"My phone's in the truck. And anyways, why would I want to talk to him when we could be doing this?" He ran his eyes lazily up and down her body, causing her to blush. Smirking at his victory, he reached out a hand to pull her down on top of him again.

"Wait" she said. Her eyes were apologetic, full of the same ache that was currently in his pants, but her tone was firm. "Use my phone. He sounds…stressed."

"You're too nice babe" he muttered, but sat up and took her phone anyway. He punched in Finn's number and the idiot picked up on the second ring.

"Rach?"

He did sound stressed, but Puck wasn't about to let what had just happened slide.

"Man, you totally just shit on me" he complained. "There's a reason I wasn't picking up and it wasn't because me and Rachel were talking, if you get my drift." (Then again it was Finn, so he probably didn't.)

"Puck." Finn's voice was hollow and it brought him up short.

"What's wrong?" Puck asked, a sudden coldness filling his chest. There must have been something about the tone of his voice, because Rachel's hand was instantly holding his.

"It's the baby."

His heart seemed to stop. "Fuck."

A million thoughts flew threw his head; images of Quinn lying on the floor, hands clutching her now empty stomach, tears pouring down her cheeks. He saw flashes of her from when they were both kids, blonde and smiling and happy, laughing as he and Finn chased her round the park. He remembered the look on her face when she'd announced to everyone that she was pregnant, like it was a prison sentence and a miracle all at the same time, Finn's arm wrapped protectively round her waist.

"What happened? Are you at the hospital? You need us to come?" He knew he was babbling and Rachel's fingernails were now digging painfully into the palm of his hand. He heard her sharp intake of breath and didn't have to look at her to know they were both thinking the same thing. _Quinn._

There was silence on the other end of the line, until – "Dude, what?" Finn's voice was suddenly confused. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Puck frowned. "What the hell are _you_ talking about?" he demanded.

"It's Quinn" Finn replied, sounding depressed again. "She told me she wants to call the baby Sammy. I am so not cool with that man. And she won't change her mind. I've tried telling her –"

"Finn" Puck growled, cutting him off. "Are you shitting me? This is about Quinn wanting to name the baby something you're not fucking happy with?"

"I'm not just not happy" said Finn, indignant. "I'm miserable. I need help thinking of a better name."

Puck closed his eyes, feeling the overwhelming urge to slushy someone. Preferably Hudson. And preferably soon. "Fucking unbelievable" he snarled, ending the call and slamming the phone down on Rachel's bedside table, too angry to notice the relief that was spreading through his body.

"Noah?" Rachel's voice wobbled. "Is everything ok? Is this just about baby names? Is Quinn..." she tailed off.

He kept his eyes shut, but squeezed her hand. "Everything's fine. Quinn's fine." The truth of this was beginning to seep in and he started to breath normally again. "Hudson on the other hand, is a fucking moron."

Rachel was silent for a moment. "So the only issue is that Finn's having trouble with what Quinn is suggesting they name the baby?" she asked, and this time her voice was tinged with amusement.

He nodded, not inclined to see the funny side. "I thought he was going to say they'd lost the baby" he said flatly.

Then her hand was on his chest and she was snuggling up against him, her hair tickling his cheek as she tucked her head under his chin. He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer against his side.

"So did I" she said softly. "But she won't Noah; she's only two weeks away from her due date. It's very unlikely for complications to arise this late."

"I've known her since I was four" said Puck, not sure why he was telling her this or why it was relevant. "She can't Rach. It would break her."

Rachel felt herself smile at his words, the concern in his voice. "Noah?"

"Yeah babe?"

"You're just a big softie at heart, aren't you?"

Surprised, he opened his eyes. She was looking up at him with wide dark eyes, pressing her lips together to stop from laughing. She looked so sexy he almost forgot to be insulted.

"I'm a badass" he corrected her, his fingers tracing patterns up and down her arm.

She snorted. "Yeah. A badass with a big soft heart."

He groaned mentally. Hudson and his damn issues were totally destroying his rep.

"Don't worry Noah" Rachel murmured, running her finger lightly down his chest to the waist band of his jeans. The unexpected touch caused him to go instantly hard. "Your secret's safe with me. In fact, your newfound emotional depth is actually quite a turn on."

Puck began to grin, his own hands roaming down her back and onto her ass.

"Yeah?"

"Very."

"In that case…"

He used his arm to roll her over so he was lying on top of her, their bodies pressed tight together. He smirked down at her.

"Let's see how deep you can handle."

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**A/N: I know this chapter was a bit short, but the next one will be action packed. I'm thinking Puckleberry can't go smoothly the entire time! **

**I'd love to know what you think :) **


	4. Rainy Days

**A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews and alerts and favourites! They make my day!**

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Rachel wasn't speaking to him.

A year ago and this would have been a fucking dream come true. But since then Puck had grown up and she'd grown boobs, and he'd realised how damn pathetic his life would be without her there, encouraging him to do better. And, you know, the fact that she was now his girl. Which meant that her not talking to him would pretty much screw up any chances of them having sex later that day. And that was definitely not cool with him because he needed sex like he needed dip.

She'd been ignoring him for the better part of an hour (which happened frequently) but was refusing to crack a smile at any of his innuendo's (which didn't).

So if he hadn't been such a stud, he'd sort of be worried.

For the sake of necessity she was sitting next to him – the room was small and the desks were few – but her chair was angled away from him towards the window and the stiffness of her posture told him he wasn't about to be forgiven any time soon. Every few minutes she would smooth down her skirt, or cross and uncross her legs or just fidget in typical Berry style – she never could sit still, especially when she was dying to criticise someone during glee but knew it would be best for team morale if she kept her mouth shut – and he could tell she was desperate to scream at him, but too proud to do it in front of Mike.

He was sitting behind them and making matters a fuck load worse by commenting loudly and frequently about their sex life.

"You did it in the library Rach? Shit. If I'd known you were that kinky I'd have scooped you up before Puckerman could get his hands on you."

Rachel answered without turning her head, her voice frosty. "Mike. For the hundredth time. We did _not have sex in the library_."

He shrugged, undeterred by her evident unwillingness to discuss the subject. "Whatever. _Nearly _had sex in the library. Let's not quibble over – whatd'ya call it… Semitics."

"Semantics Mike" said Rachel wearily.

Puck groaned. Chang's bad grammar would just put her in an even worse mood.

"Yeah, that" Mike nodded. "Anyway, damn dude! It sure makes reading a hell of a lot more interesting. Score!" he raised his hand for a high five, but Puck left him hanging.

"Dude, seriously, I'm in deep enough shit as it is" he muttered. Rachel had even ignored his offer of taking her to see _West Side Story_ for Christ sake. He was literally putting his balls on the line for her (the guys would never let him live it down if they found out he'd willingly gone to see a musical) and he hadn't even got a response.

"Babe, can't we talk about this?" he asked her coaxingly.

Rachel kept her gaze fixed resolutely on the teacher's desk, where Mr Schue was marking papers.

"I have nothing to say to you Noah."

Puck ran a hand through his Mohawk, not sure what else to do. If this had been one of their normal fights (like when he refuses to watch _Cabaret_ for the tenth time, or when she finds one of Santana's bra's under his bed – from long ago hook ups, so he's not sure why it pisses her off so much) he'd have sweet talked her out of it and kissed her until she gave in – leading to make up sex and multiple batches of "I'm sorry" cookies. But for one thing Mr Schue was keeping a really close eye on them and for another, making out in public was what had gotten him into this mess.

He sighed. "Rach, please just talk to me."

(Shut up, he wasn't begging).

"I refuse to talk to you until you realise the severity of your actions" she told him, turning to give him a cold look.

He hated it when she shut him out like this, so he couldn't even tell if he was making things worse by talking. He knew he was in big trouble the second she stopped dramatising the situation and cut off her emotions.

"I just don't see what the big deal is. It's not like you you're missing much anyways. Only ballet practice."

At his words her icy mask cracked and suddenly her eyes were blazing with anger. If Rachel Berry looked at anyone else like that, they'd start running. Puck grinned, satisfied that he'd gotten a reaction at last.

"You have landed me in detention!" Rachel hissed, keeping her voice low. "Detention Noah! It'll go on my permanent record!"

"Chill babe, it's not like anyone looks at those."

"I can't believe I let you talk me into fooling around on school premises" she continued angrily. "And the library of all places. It was completely counterproductive and entirely irresponsible. Not to mention unhygienic and –"

"Totally hot?" Puck quirked an eyebrow.

"Oh man, I knew you did it!" Mike broke in, slamming his hand down on Puck's shoulder. "Way to go dude, it's a glee first. Finn and Quinn took the bleachers; San and Artie have done the music storeroom. Although I'm pretty sure you and San did most places when you were dating…"

"What the hell, are you trying to screw me over?" Puck demanded, while Rachel pursed her lips and turned away again.

"Rach" he said, leaning over and putting a hand on her thigh. "Look, I'm sorry about –"

"Puck? What's going on back here?"

Mr Schue was standing in front of their desk, his arms folded. "This is detention guys, not you free time. I can't have you causing a commotion."

He looked pointedly at Puck's hand and he retracted it, scowling.

Rachel had sniffed at the word "detention" and was refusing to look at either of them.

"Rachel is there a problem?" enquired Mr Schue politely.

She shook her head, a quick, jerky movement that caused her hair to whip across her face. "Nothing that you can help with Mr Schuester. Noah and I are currently having a few relationship problems."

"I hope this won't affect your involvement in glee club" Mr Schue frowned. "It's coming up to Sectionals and I can't have my female lead distracted."

"So distraction's what we're calling it nowadays is it?" said Mike, smirking as he leant forward on his chair to bump fists with Puck.

"You still here Chang?" Puck growled, ignoring the Asian boy and turning to Rachel.

"Relationship problems?" he echoed dejectedly. That was universal girl talk for "I'm going to make you work you ass off until you prove you're a better boyfriend". And up until now, there was no way he'd have done that for a girl. Phrases such as "I think we should talk" had him out the door and half way to Finn's for a round of Halo before you could say "commitment issues" (because yeah, owning Finn's ass and beating his high score was a hell of a lot more appealing than dealing with emotions.)

Getting girls to make out with him just by flashing his guns – he owned that.

Dealing with feelings, not so much.

But Rachel was different. He'd never been in a relationship that wasn't just about sex before – don't get him wrong, the sex was amazing. Like_ seriously._ The girl could do things with her mouth that should be made illegal – but he actually enjoyed spending time with her. He liked playing guitar while she did homework and driving her back from dance when she was all worn out and apologetic for cutting short their time together. He liked hanging out in the kitchen while she made dinner for her dad's and making her laugh when he messed up the simplest jobs she gave him. And (although he'd shoot himself before admitting this to anyone else) he was even starting to enjoy the old black and white films she forced him to watch.

So shit. If he wanted to keep her, he knew he had to step up and be a man.

"Err, Mr Schue? Would it be ok if me and Rach went outside for a second to sort this out? I know its detention and all but if you don't want glee messed about…" he left the sentence hanging, knowing that the Spanish teacher would let the rules slide if their success at Sectionals was in the slightest chance of jeopardy.

"Ok Puck" he nodded, "you can go but come back in after five minutes. And stay just outside the door."

"Rach?" Puck asked, raising an eyebrow hopefully. "You coming?"

She didn't look at him, but stood up and walked stiffly to the door. He followed after her, trying to keep focused on his apology rather than her ass.

When they were out in the corridor, he let out a whistle.

"So that was pretty good of Mr Schue, letting us out."

Rachel shrugged noncommittally, but her eyes found his and there was an unanswered question in them.

"Yeah, well" Puck began, running a hand through his Mohawk. "I thought it would be better to talk without Chang making crass comments every two seconds."

"And I wonder where he's picked that up…"

Damn. Ok, so she'd won that point. It was time to break out the Puckerman charm.

"Babe, I'm sorry about detention. If I'd known Mrs Adams was cataloguing books back there I would have suggested we go to my truck instead."

Rachel's nostrils flared. "Do you have any idea how humiliating it was having to sit in Principal Figgins office and be berated for exposing myself in the library?" she snapped.

"I love it when you talk dirty" Puck smirked.

"Shut it, Puckerman."

She crossed her arms and glared at him. He was always surprised by how much anger such a small body could produce, but he wasn't given much time to contemplate this because she'd started up again, her voice low and furious.

"And being given detention – detention Noah! – when up until now I have had an exemplary behavioural record. And all because you were too impatient to wait until the end of school to have sex. This whole day has been the most horrific experience of my high school life."

"I don't remember you complaining at the time" he murmured, stepping forward so their bodies were only inches apart and catching a strand of her hair between his fingers. He heard her breath catch as he tucked it behind her ear, though her expression remained indifferent. Point to him.

"At the time I was – somewhat engaged" she replied, trying to keep her voice stony. Which was hard when the feel of Puck's hand on her hip, his fingers softly brushing the sliver of exposed skin between her skirt and blouse, was causing her to have delicious flashbacks of him pressing her up against the shelf of encyclopaedia's and slipping a hand between her thighs.

"I really am sorry Rach" he whispered, gently pulling her towards him. "I'm sorry you got detention and I'm sorry you had to go back to the library and get your underwear on your own."

His arms wrapped around her waist and Rachel snuggled automatically into his chest, breathing in his musky scent while his hand stroked her hair. There was something about his touch that stopped her from thinking straight. And whether this was due to desire, or the fact that he'd managed to become such an important part of her life when he wasn't even in the Five Year Plan (win nationals, graduate, move to New York, find her big break), she couldn't imagine not feeling this hazy sense of happiness every day.

She decided that perhaps she'd punished him enough. He did seem very sorry – or at least, very gorgeous and doing lovely things with his lips on her neck – and it wasn't as if the producers on Broadway would take a particularly avid interest in her permanent record anyway…

"I didn't" she murmured, pulling back so she could look up into his eyes.

He kept his arms locked around her. "Didn't what babe?"

"I didn't go back and get them…"

She smiled at him; a slow, sultry smile that made Puck's blood flow towards his groin even before he caught on.

"Rach. Fuck" he groaned, his eyes trailing down her body to where the bottom of her skirt grazed the smooth skin of her thighs. He wasn't sure if she was telling the truth but by fuck he was going to find out.

"Shit, there has to be a janitor's cupboard around here somewhere, or an empty classroom. Or anything…"

He started to pull her down the corridor towards the nearest door, but she dropped his hand and shook her head, still smiling.

"Mr Schue said five minutes Noah. And we've been out here at least three."

"And? I've got two minutes left to get you off."

Rachel watched him, bemused, as he looked round for a door that might miraculously open on to a secluded room. There was something oddly endearing about it. But still, even though she'd decided that he'd apologised enough, it didn't mean he was entirely forgiven.

"Noah?"

He turned back to her and as he shot her a questioning look she reached her hand down and began to ruck the side of her skirt up, revealing a lot more leg than she would ever normally do in public (their earlier tryst in the library aside).

Puck swallowed, his eyes fixed on her hand as she pulled the fabric higher and higher. Fuck. If she had any idea what she was doing to him…

"Or here" he said, breaking into a grin and striding back to her – or, considering the inconvenience in his trousers, it was as close to a stride as he could manage. "Here's good."

When he was a step away from her, she let the material fall.

"Actually no. Two minutes is _not_ going to be enough time for what I've got planned" she told him.

Puck growled, catching her wrist as she turned away from him. "Seriously Rach, you can't do this to me."

She looked round at him over her shoulder, her eyes bright with amusement.

"I can Noah, and I will. After school, we're going to go and apologise to my dance teacher for missing my lesson. Next we're going to go back to your house and take your sister round to Mrs Oldman next door. _Then_ we're going to have the best sex of your life. But right _now_, we have detention."

Smiling sweetly, she slipped her hand out of his grasp and walked back towards the classroom.

Puck groaned. "This is you getting revenge, isn't it?"

"Now we're even" she shrugged, her hand on the classroom door. "And Noah? You might want to sort out the problem in your trousers before you follow me in as I don't think Mr Schue would approve. He would almost certainly class it as something you should only do in your free time."

"Which is all he does in his free time, seeing as Miss Pillsbury isn't putting out" Puck smirked.

"And you said Mike Chang was crass" she said, rolling her eyes.

"What can I say? He learnt from the master."

"I really don't want to know about the things you've taught Mike. Especially what you do to the juniors with lunch food…"

"You know about that?" Puck asked, rubbing the back of his neck guiltily. It wasn't that Rachel had expressly forbid him from continuing with his slushying and "similar Neanderthal tendencies", but she sure as hell didn't jump for joy whenever he tossed some idiot in a dumpster.

Rachel wrinkled up her nose. "I found that boy Ben Farras pulling pizza out of his trousers in the music room the other day."

"It was totally Finn's idea!" Puck defended himself. "And we only do it to the douchey ones."

And shit it was satisfying. Especially when he saw them trudging round school later that day with Coleslaw dripping out their trouser legs.

"I'm glad to see your victims now go through a sophisticated screening process" she said dryly. "I would have hoped my influence might have curbed your bullying habits Noah."

"You can lead a horse to water…"he shrugged. "Anyways, isn't it part of my charm?"

"It's one of your character traits I try and overlook."

He raised an eyebrow. "You mean you want me to stop pounding on Ben Israel for staring at your boobs?"

Rachel's lips curved upwards, against her will. "That particular indiscretion, I'm willing to overlook."

He grinned and joined her at the door. "So. You ready to get your hot ass back in detention Berry?"

"I suppose it _is _good that I'm taking an interest in your extra-curricular activities seeing as you regularly pick me up from dance" she said thoughtfully.

"That's right babe. See this as supporting my hobbies."

He reached over and took her hand before leaning across her and opening the door. As they entered the room, Mr Schue looked up and smiled.

"Everything ok now Rachel?" he asked.

"Everything's fine" she said, giving Puck's hand a squeeze.

Maybe detention wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

**Please review :) I'd love to know what you think, plus any suggestions for what should happen next? **


	5. Sunshine

**A/N: again, thank you all so much for the alerts and favourites. Reviews are always a cheeky bonus :)**

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* * *

**Rachel walked barefoot across the lawn, enjoying the feel of the sun on her back and the blades of grass tickling her toes. It was hot out, probably one of the warmest summers Lima had ever seen, certainly the warmest that she'd ever experienced. The air was heavy, oppressive and the sidewalks were dusty, with heat shimmer on the tarmac wherever you drove. She was trying not to as far as possible, seeing as the inside of her Cadillac was like a furnace and no matter how much she turned up the air con she ended up having to peel herself away from the seat at the end of each journey. And that was definitely not an attractive feature.

On reaching the end of the garden, where the leafy trees provided her with a momentary respite in the cool shade, she turned and looked back at the house. The white paint glared at her in the sunshine and she was forced to scrunch up her eyes to make out her bedroom window. Directly below it, Quinn was sitting in a lawn chair by the patio, her head tiled back and eyes closed against the sun. She was resting an iced tea on her stomach, which was now enormous, and as Rachel walked slowly back towards her she automatically began to go through the checklist of things she'd need to take to the hospital when her waters broke. Hopefully it would be soon, as she wasn't sure she could deal with another week of Finn ringing her up at every hour of the night asking if Quinn was having contractions yet (you'd have thought that after fifty answers of "no, I'll ring you if she does" he would have stopped, but there was no explaining the workings of his brain.)

Convincing her dad's to let Quinn stay with them after her parents had kicked her out had seemed like a good idea at the time. And most of the time it still was, because having Quinn live with her was like having a best friend and sister rolled up in one. But once the baby was born she was moving in with Finn and his mother and Rachel was forced to admit that although she would miss her, she would most definitely _not_ miss having her sleep disturbed – it was almost as if Finn wasn't aware of how important a good night's sleep was for the health.

As she passed, she picked her own drink – an organic smoothie – up off the table and flopped down in the seat next to Quinn.

She felt uncharacteristically lazy.

It would definitely be too much effort to do anything productive and despite the fact they had exams looming, she couldn't face the prospect of working her way through the flashcards she'd made several weeks previously.

She had a sneaking suspicion that this was all Puck's influence, but she was too hot to care.

(Later she would sit down and force herself to reassess her priorities. Because however much she enjoyed spending time with Noah, she would not allow him to get in the way of her studies. Which he inevitably always seemed to do; whether it was his hand working its way up her thigh in chemistry as she was trying to copy down notes off the board, or his turning up on random evenings with bottles of lemonade and offers to drive her down to the reservoir so they could dip their feet in the icy water and cool down. She loved his spontaneity – perhaps the romantic outings more than the unexpected gropings under desks, although if she was being truthful, they certainly made the lessons more interesting – but it was throwing her revision schedule completely off balance.)

Coming out of her thoughts, she became aware that Quinn was talking to her.

"I love summer" the blonde girl murmured, her voice soft and sleepy. "I want it to be summer forever."

Rachel considered this while stretching her feet out on the grass.

"I think I prefer fall. And the smoky smell of bonfires and the way the leaves are all different colours and crunch when you walk on them. Although of course it's much more common to contract colds during the winter months so there's always the risk that I'll catch something that might damage my throat."

Quinn laughed. "Of course your seasonal preference would have something to do with singing."

Rachel smiled with her. "I know you think I'm crazy, but you have to be very careful about protecting your vocal cords."

"That's not why I think you're crazy" Quinn told her. "I think you're crazy because you grouped all the toys that people have bought me for the baby by colour, and then arranged them in ascending order of size."

"It's just more organised that way" said Rachel, frowning. The haphazard pile of teddy bears and dolls had been calling out to her for weeks and last weekend Quinn had_ finally_ let her get her hands on them. "I don't know why you found it so funny."

"Maybe because the baby won't be able to appreciate it whatsoever?" Quinn suggested.

"Organisation is a value in its own right. It doesn't need to be appreciated. And anyway, you and Finn will."

"I hate to break it to you Rach, but Finn's been playing with them and messed your system up" Quinn said, as she took a sip of her drink.

"I told you to keep him out of the nursery" Rachel groaned, thinking mournfully of her neat regiments of toys. She'd have to go round again soon and re-establish order.

"I tried. But he sneaked up there while I was having a nap." Quinn grimaced at her own words. "God, that makes me sound ancient."

"You're pregnancy guide said that you should sleep whenever you felt you needed it" said Rachel approvingly. She had taken to marking relevant pages with post-it notes, but she was never sure if Quinn read them or not. "I'm glad to see you're following advice."

"How could I possibly not with you on my case?" Quinn teased. "Anyway, enough about me. Let's talk about something interesting."

"Like what?"

"Like the fact that you and Puck have been dating for a month" she grinned. "He's never been with a girl this long before. Well, he was on off with Santana for ages, but that doesn't really count. They weren't exactly _dating_, it was just sex."

"A month isn't a very long time you know" Rachel pointed out, though she couldn't helped but feel satisfied and a little bit proud. Puck treated her in a way that she'd never seen him treat other girls – except perhaps Quinn, who'd had a maternal control over him since middle school when his dad had upped and left and she'd stepped in to make his lunches while his mother was in hospital having his sister. But aside from that friendship, he didn't seem to get close to girls (apart from in the physical sense obviously). Even the fact that he'd told her about his dad leaving, which Quinn had assured her didn't happen often, showed that he was letting her in in a way that she'd never thought possible.

"You really like him, don't you?" said Quinn, struggling to sit up in her chair so she could meet Rachel's eye.

"Of course I do. It would be counter intuitive to date him if I didn't."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Don't play dumb Berry, you know what I mean."

"Well then yes. I really like him" said Rachel, blushing. The word "love" flittered quickly through her head and out again, before she really had time to register it. (That was something else she'd have to sit down and consider later).

"As in, really _really_ like him?" Quinn's tone turned teasing.

"Shut it Fabray."

"He really _really_ likes you" she continued, unperturbed. "I mean, you got him to meet the parents. Do you even know how many times I've seen him run like a bat out of hell the second a girl mentions the P word?"

Rachel laughed. "I wouldn't say he was that keen to meet my dad's. But he did manage not to make too many faux pas' in their presence, which was unexpected."

"A miracle" Quinn agreed. "The first time he met my mom he told her, and I quote, "I can see where Quinn get's her boobs from". Which as you can imagine, completely won my mom over. After which my dad kicked him out."

Rachel laughed but was prevented from replying by her phone going off. She felt momentary (silly) butterflies at seeing Noah's name flash across the screen before picking up.

"Hey babe."

From the roaring sound she presumed he was in his car and the chatter of voices and yells in the background suggested that he was with the guys.

"Hello Noah" she smiled. "What are you up to?"

He ignored her question. "You have a barbeque right?"

"Yes I do. But why –?" she trailed off as she heard horns honking at his end (probably because of some reckless manoeuvre he'd just performed) and then him growling "get off the road you fucking idiot". She could make out Finn laughing and somebody – possibly Mike Chang – whooping loudly and then he was talking again.

"We've bought a shitload of burgers. On our way over now. See you in ten, 'kay?"

She rolled her eyes. "Ok. I'll go and get the barbeque and firelighters out of the garage."

"Hey Rach?"

"Yes, Noah?"

"You're fucking awesome, you know that right?"

"I know" she grinned, and put the phone down.

It took her about five minutes to find all the barbeque stuff and by the time she'd dragged it round to the patio (refusing Quinn's offer of help, because what that would do to her back in her state was just _awful_ to consider) the doorbell had rung.

When she opened it, she was surprised to find not only Puck, Finn, Mike and Matt, but Santana, Artie and Brittany too.

"The others are on there way" said Puck by way of greeting, kissing her on the cheek as he staggered over the threshold laden down with bags of frozen food. Finn and Matt had several bags too and Rachel wondered if he meant the entire school when he said "the others".

"And do you suppose I have enough drinks for everyone?" she asked him, somewhat taken aback. "I mean, I have as much herbal tea as the next person, but –"

"I highly doubt that anyone else in Lima drinks herbal tea" he told her. "Except perhaps Kurt."

"My point exactly! We won't have any beverages."

"Dude I forgot the beer" interrupted Matt, slapping a hand to his forehead. "It's on the backseat. Give me the keys Puckerman."

"Problem solved" said Puck, winking at her as he took his keys out of his jeans pockets and lobbed them at Matt. Rachel shook her head, torn between amusement and disapproval. She was well aware of (and disliked) the boys' habit of hanging round the 7/11 until they ambushed some unsuspecting passerby and told them heart wrenching sob stories about chronic pain until they bought them alcohol. On the other hand, it was certainly a very resourceful method – she always gave credit where credit was due – and solved the problem of drinks altogether. She wasn't sure that even Kurt would enjoy her herbal tea.

Half an hour later the rest of New Directions had shown up and a full scale glee barbeque was in session, complete with karaoke (obviously) and Quinn having to sit as far away from everyone as possible because the smell of meat was making her nauseous.

Rachel was standing by the grill helping Finn flips burgers and watching Kurt show Tina how to execute the perfect pirouette when arms slid around her waist from behind and Puck was murmuring in her ear.

"You miss me?"

Sighing happily, she leant back against his chest. "What a ridiculous question Noah. I spoke to you less than five minutes ago when Matt couldn't find any plates."

She felt him chuckle.

"What a douche. The kitchen would have been a good place to start looking."

"I _was_ wondering why he was searching for them in the den."

When she'd found him with his head inside one of her dvd cupboards and told him that cutlery and china was stored in the kitchen, he'd looked surprised. She was still wondering what on earth the inside of his house must look like.

"So did you miss me?" she asked Puck, twisting round to smile up at him.

His voice was low and serious when he answered and at his words a slow heat started to burn under her skin.

"Yes. Always."

His eyes were intense as they gazed into hers and Rachel could have forgotten about everyone around her if it wasn't for Finn's yells (he'd flipped a sizzling hot burger on to his hand). The warm feeling curled in the bottom of her belly and she was filled with an overwhelming desire to press her body against his, touch any part of him she could get her hands on.

"Noah, I – don't know what to say."

"Tell me what you're thinking." He hands began to rub circles on her back and she let out a low moan.

"I think that if it wasn't for everyone in my garden right now I'd say we should go upstairs."

He smirked and his hands slid down to her hips as he pulled her towards him. "Who says we can't?"

She was about to reply when someone snorted from behind her.

"Jeez you two, get a room."

Puck scowled over her shoulder. "That was kind of the idea, San."

Rachel turned round to see Santana walking towards them with a sly smile on her face and a glass in her hand. From the way she was tilting slightly from side to side and spilling whatever she was drinking onto the grass, she'd obviously had too much.

"I see you're pulling all your best moves on her, Puckerman" she drawled, stopping beside them and putting a hand on his arm. Rachel glared down at her blood red nails. However much she appreciated the fact that Santana and Artie were in a happy relationship, she felt deeply suspicious whenever the cheerio flirted with Puck. Rachel supposed it wasn't her fault and that it was just ingrained in her nature, but the fact that Santana seemed to have no qualms about doing it even when she was standing right there, irked her.

"Where's Artie?" she asked her, somewhat stiffly.

Santana flapped her hand. "Around somewhere. I don't know. He said he wasn't drunk enough to have sex with me behind that bush."

Rachel looked in the direction the other girl was pointing and thought that considering how small the bush was, Artie had made a very sensible decision. Not that she would condone having sex in somebody else's back yard even if the bush was large enough to conceal everything.

"What do you want, San?" Puck asked, pulling Rachel tighter against him.

"I can't just come over and say hi anymore without wanting something?"

Puck laughed. "No, especially not when you're drunk. So just get to the point already."

"Fine" said Santana, flicking her hair behind one shoulder and zeroing in on Puck. "I don't usually ask for favours, but seeing as we have all this history and shit, I figured you owed me something. And basically, I want you to give Artie some tips."

"Tips?" Rachel repeated, her heart sinking as she caught on to the direction the conversation was taking. "As in –"

"How to be good in bed" said Santana, nodding her head. "In case you hadn't noticed, your boyfriend's pretty damn good."

Rachel bristled. "I don't need you to point that out for me thanks."

She wasn't the sort of person who would be automatically jealous of other girls, but Santana was so tactless whenever she referred to her and Puck's history that Rachel couldn't help but dislike to be around her. Especially when she was drunk and asking her previous boyfriend to give sex advice to her new boyfriend. It was all so distasteful.

"Why don't you ask Finn?" suggested Puck, feeling the way Rachel had stiffened in his arms. He knew that however much she claimed she didn't care, Santana's constant reminiscing about their sex life bothered her. It bothered him too for that matter. Nothing like an ex girlfriend to cock-block you.

"Finn?" Santana laughed. "It would be like the blind leading the blind. I need someone who knows what they're doing."

"He managed to knock Quinn up ok" Puck pointed out. Nobody could claim he didn't have his boys' back.

"Noah!" Rachel was appalled.

Santana smirked. "I don't need someone getting me pregnant. I need someone to show me a good time. And in that department, you definitely come out tops."

She could tell that despite his desire to not upset Rachel, her words were inflating his ego – exactly as she had intended. The slight incline of his head told her that he was accepting her compliment and she pushed onwards.

"So will you talk to Artie for me?"

Puck considered. It wasn't like he was actually going to be spending any time with San, so he didn't see how Rachel could be too annoyed by it. Plus she was always pestering him to help other people and this would definitely make two people very happy.

He shrugged. What harm could it do?

"Sure. Consider yourself orgasm guaranteed from now on."

"Thanks Puckerman" Santana grinned, winking at him before she left. "Now I owe you one."

Puck shook his head as she walked away, thinking how weird it was that a few months ago that sentence would have had him dragging her off to his truck in three seconds flat. Now, he wasn't really turned on at all (alright, a little bit. He was still male wasn't he?) but the only person he wanted to be dragging anywhere was the girl in his arms. He leant forward to whisper in her ear.

"Now that she's gone, you want to take this party upstairs?"

Rachel didn't reply.

She had watched his and Santana's exchange with growing anger; because it was one thing having a slutty ex girlfriend (she was still rational enough to see that it wasn't really Puck's fault) but quite another to offer his services up to her whenever she felt like it. Somewhere in the back of her brain she knew that this wasn't really what he was doing at all, but she was passed caring. Why should she have to put up with it at all?

She was too hot, had a heap of revision she'd put off all because of _him _and now he seemed to think that she'd want to have sex, when the whole time he'd probably be trying to decide which moves he should tell Artie about. And she was _not_ being his test study.

"Actually, I think I'm going to go and talk to Quinn" she said coolly, pulling herself free of his arms.

"What's wrong babe?" Puck asked, frowning.

"Don't you babe me Noah Puckerman. I am not in the mood."

"You were in the mood five minutes ago."

Rachel felt a sudden flare of fury. "Well perhaps that was until I pictured you and Santana having sex! It's something that I've found tends to kill the romance of a moment."

She started to stalk towards Quinn but Puck caught her wrist and spun her round to face him again.

"You're being stupid" he told her. "You know that wasn't what she was asking."

"Maybe not, but I could tell she wanted to!" She suddenly felt very close to tears and sick of the whole thing. Santana and the barbeque and the boy in front of her.

Puck dropped her hand. "Who cares if _she _does? I don't want to. That's all that matters."

"Right" said Rachel, her eyes fixed on the ground. "We're fine then. Santana can keep on flirting with you and I'll be ok with it because I know you've never succumbed to flirting before."

She sounded harsh even to her own ears, but there was nothing she could do about it. When she got going, it was almost impossible to stop.

"Next time she comes over asking you to give _her_ tips, I'm sure you'll just politely decline. In the mean time, I'm going to go get a drink."

"Whatever." Puck's voice was abruptly cold and Rachel looked up in surprise, even though she knew she'd been unfair, knew she'd said things she didn't really believe. He was standing with his hands shoved in his pockets and she couldn't read his expression.

"What - ?" she began, but he cut across her.

"Go get your drink, Rachel. Just don't expect me to be here when you get back."

Then he turned away and strided off towards the house.

She watched him go, unable to think of anything to say to bring him back.

* * *

**So... don't hate me, I promise to sort it out!**


	6. Whirlwind

**A/N: again, thank you for all the support! **

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* * *

**Quinn was entirely unsympathetic.

"And you just let him walk away?" she groaned. "You asshat, Rach. Phone him!"

Rachel was still inclined to be pathetic.

"I don't think he would appreciate my call right now" she sniffed, as a new wave of tears threatened to spill over.

It was a few hours since everybody had left and the two girls were settled down on the sofa wrapped up in their duvets, a bowl of popcorn balanced between them. Quinn had put Singing in the Rain on and it was playing in the background, but Rachel was too upset to pay much attention. She couldn't get her head around the fact that she and Noah had had an actual fight and weren't speaking – at least, she was certain he wouldn't want to talk to her after the way she'd treated him.

"I don't think he'll ever want to hear from me again" she said miserably. "He made that perfectly clear."

"Look, I know how you like to do the whole over dramatic thing" said Quinn, reaching for a handful of popcorn. "But _seriously_ Rachel. It's not like you've cheated on him or anything. You might have put your foot in it a bit but of course he's going to forgive you. So just get on with it already!"

"You didn't see his face" Rachel said softly.

She was trying her best not to remember it, as the thought of his indifferent expression and the coldness in his voice before he'd walked away from her had been infinitely worse than if he'd yelled or looked angry or hurt. It was like they had gone right back to where they'd started at the beginning of glee club, when he hadn't even acknowledged her existence despite the fact that they spent three nights a week together at rehearsals. Of course, it had been much worse back then because he'd also been throwing drinks over her on a regular basis, but she would have put up with a lot worse than a slushy facial right now if only he would call her.

"Maybe not" said Quinn, "but I know Puck. He's never liked a girl as much as he likes you. Hell, I don't think he really ever _did_ like any other girl before you. Never cared enough to let himself get attached."

A tear ran slowly down Rachel's cheek. "Yes. And I've gone and ruined it."

Quinn stopped herself from rolling her eyes in an effort of extreme restraint. "For the love all that's holy..."

Picking up the bowl of popcorn, she placed it carefully on the coffee table in front of them before shifting along the sofa until she was next to Rachel. Putting an arm around her waist, she pulled the brunette against her.

"Sweetie, you need to calm down" she told her firmly. "This is not the end of the world, much less the end of your relationship. Now tell me exactly what happened so we can begin damage control."

Rachel sighed and rested her head on Quinn's shoulder.

"It started when Santana asked Noah if he could give Artie sex tips."

"Ok. Perfectly understandable from what I've heard."

Rachel's interest was piqued enough for her to raise her head and look questioningly at the other girl.

Quinn grinned. "Let's just say that Santana was spending way more time with her B.O.B than with Artie."

Rachel was shocked into a watery laugh. "Oh!" she said in surprise. Then her smile disappeared just as quickly as it had come and she said "oh" again in a smaller voice.

"So she actually did want Puck to help."

Even though deep down she'd already known this; known that Santana wasn't really coming on to Puck and that in accepting her offer, he wasn't reciprocating her advances, having it proved to her came with an immense flood of relief. Accompanied by an even sharper stab of guilt. Santana was her friend and she should have trusted her. And more importantly, she should have given her boyfriend the benefit of the doubt when he told her that nothing was going on.

"I think so" nodded Quinn. "I know that San can be a bit overbearing sometimes and not exactly sensitive about her and Puck's previous activities, but she's not the kind of person who would try to break up a relationship. Plus she's happy with her man – aside from the few improvements she wants making – and not about to screw that up."

"I've been such an idiot" Rachel moaned.

Quinn didn't contradict her.

"What precisely did you say to Puck?" she asked.

Ashamed, Rachel dropped her head and spoke through the curtain of hair that now separated her from the other girl. She didn't want to see her reaction.

"I was horrible. I said that it wouldn't be the first time he'd given in to flirting and I implied that if Santana did offer him sex he wouldn't refuse it. I basically told him that I didn't trust him."

Away from the glare of the sun and Santana's smirk and her own jealously, the whole thing seemed completely knew that he had an (undeserved in her opinion) bad reputation and she was well aware of his encyclopaedic sexual history and sometimes these things played on her insecurities. But she was sure that Noah would never cheat on her, would never flirt with his ex girlfriend – ever, let alone in front of her_. _No wonder he'd left. Why would he stay when she appeared to doubt him beyond redemption?

"Call him" said Quinn, breaking into her thoughts. "Granted, you haven't behaved like the perfect girlfriend, but we've all had moments where we let our lack of self confidence rule us. I remember when I first got pregnant and I was convinced Finn was checking out every single girl we passed in the street. I didn't think he'd want to be with me when I started getting fat."

"You're not fat, you're carrying his child!" said Rachel indignantly.

Quinn smiled at the look on Rachel's face, glad to see her customary outrage restored. "I get that now" she said. "But at the time all I could think about was the fact that by the time it got to summer I'd look like this" she gestured towards her tummy, "when everyone else would be in miniskirts."

Rachel took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "You look lovely whatever you wear."

"Thank you. And Finn seems to think so too, although I wasn't so sure of it the time. He had to sit me down and tell me I was being a complete idiot for even thinking that he could love somebody else when I was having his baby. So what I'm trying to say is you can easily sort this out Rach. You just need to talk to Puck."

"You're right" said Rachel, nodding. "How is it that you've become so wise in your pregnancy?"

"Must be the hormones" Quinn shrugged. "Now get you ass to the phone woman."

Rachel smiled and pushed the duvet away so she could get up.

She was in the kitchen and half way through dialling Puck's number when Quinn called out her name.

"Umm, Rachel? Could you come back here for a second please?"

She paused with the phone in her hands and rolled her eyes. "Yes Yoda. Continue to impart ever more words of wisdom."

Quinn's voice was wobbly and almost an octave higher when she replied, like she was trying to keep a growing sense of panic under control.

"It's not that. It's – Rach, I think my water just broke."

Rachel was struck by a momentary wave of horror – because how would she _ever _break it to her dad'sthat this had just happened on their favourite leather sofa – before she kicked into business mode and was by Quinn's side again in five seconds flat. She'd been preparing for this moment for weeks (had even forced Quinn to go through several run-throughs to see how quickly they could grab her stuff and get out the house) and wasn't about to fall to pieces at the last minute.

"What do we do?" Quinn whispered, gripping her hand so hard it was painful.

Rachel smiled. Because this, _this _she could deal with. No Santana, or boyfriend issues or her own awful sense of guilt.

Just pure, blissful organisation.

"I phone Finn, get your bag and then we get to the hospital" she said in her best soothing tone. "ASAP."

* * *

Puck decided to crash at Finn's.

He couldn't face going home and having his mother ask him if he'd spent the day with Rachel (his "nice Jewish girl", who she was already welcoming in to the family as her daughter in law. He was serious. He was even convinced he'd overheard her talking to Rabbi Goldberg about wedding ceremonies the other day at the JCC) because any mention of her right now would just put him in an even fouler mood than he was already in.

He also wasn't sure if the fact that he'd stormed out of Rachel's house meant that, for the first time in his life, he was taking the moral high ground. Or if it just meant he'd grown a vagina.

He was aware that he'd already handed her his balls from the second he let her play him the entire soundtrack of _Cats_, but Jesus, he'd actually gotten emotional back there. In his defence, she'd made it completely clear that she didn't think he could keep his hands off Santana and however much he was trying to pretend that it didn't, her lack of trust in him had hurt. So he wasn't fucking facing up to whatever the hell it was had happened until the last possible moment (he had to try and preserve at least some of his badass reputation).

He was sure that Finn could be counted upon to have completely missed out on what had gone down between him and Rachel, so here he was. But obviously his life couldn't be as easy as that. So purely because God hated him – or maybe because he'd acted so out of character – Finn chose this fucking day to become observant.

"What did Rach say earlier to make you look so mad?" he asked, collapsing next to him on the couch and popping open a can of soda. "You haven't looked so angry since Artie accidently ran over your guitar."

Puck grimaced at the memory. The only thing that had stopped him from pounding on Artie had been the knowledge that Santana would probably rip his cock off if he laid a finger on him. And, you know, the fact that he actually liked the dude, so would have regretted it later if he'd beaten the crap out of him. He decided to overlook the fact that Finn had mentioned Rachel and try and draw the conversation round to more manly topics.

"It was a good barbeque" he said casually. "Those burgers were awesome."

Finn, it seemed, was not to be deterred.

"Yeah they were great. But why did Rachel start to cry after you left?"

Puck looked up so quickly he got head rush.

"She cried?"

"Yeah man, she was torn up. What the fuck did you say?"

He groaned and rubbed the back of his neck. He hated seeing girls cry. "Shit dude. I feel like a complete douche and I didn't even do anything."

"You must have done something" Finn argued, earning himself a glare.

Yeah his track record wasn't exactly great, but he didn't appreciate his best friend assuming he'd been a dick.

"Rach said she thought I was going to fool around with San" he told him, trying to keep his voice steady. Because just thinking about it, her obvious distrust in him, made him want to go and vent his feelings on the nearest wall. He'd never been monogamous before – which ok, yeah, was probably part of the problem – but now that he was, he wasn't about to go and screw it all up by cheating on Rachel with Santana fuck-me-now Lopez.

"Seriously? Like she actually gave you permission to hook up with another girl?" said Finn, staring at him in awe. "Quinn would never let me do that!"

Puck had to refrain from burying his head in his hands. "No you idiot, she didn't say I _could_, she was worried that I _would_."

Finn considered this for a minute. "That's not as good" he said seriously.

"Yeah, jackass. I know."

"So what you going to do about it? Tell her that you wouldn't?"

"You think I didn't already do that?" Puck growled.

Finn looked surprised. "What? And she didn't believe you?"

"That's kind of the whole point" he said, exasperated. He was starting to think he'd have been better chancing it with his mom. Then again, at least Finn wasn't crying and telling him he'd messed up the one good thing that had ever happened to him (he could read his mom like a book).

"Oh." Finn seemed to be stumped.

Which Puck would ordinarily have mocked him for. But this time, he was just as clueless. He was used to doing the whole apologising thing when he'd stood up a date or had sex with a date's mom (that only happened once. ok, like twice. but who was counting?) But seriously, he'd been there, done that. If there was a t-shirt it would have his name on it.

But being the one to get the apology? He was totally out of his depth.

"So you want a beer?" Finn asked, seemingly of the opinion that if he couldn't offer advice, alcohol was the next best thing.

Puck grinned. "Smartest thing you've said all night Hudson. Actually, screw that. Smartest thing you've said all life time."

"Cool." Finn stood up and was half way to the door when his phone rang. He stopped – guy never could do two things at once – and got it out his pocket. When he'd taken a look at the screen, he hurried back over looking nervous.

"Dude. It's Rachel!"

"What?" Puck's stomach dropped. Which fuck, made him even more of a pussy. Rachel was going to end up with a girlfriend if this carried on.

"Why would she be calling me?" asked Finn, starting to panic – which was totally unnecessary in Puck's opinion. They couldn't have two of them freaking out or they might as well just call Kurt up right away and tell him they'd converted.

"You don't think she's still crying do you?" Finn was moaning. "Do you think she wants me to apologise to you for her? I'm so not cut out for that man."

"I don't know. I'm not a mind reader" Puck snapped. "Just answer her already."

A horrible thought had just come into his head; that maybe Rachel wasn't going to apologise after all. What if she genuinely did believe he would sleep with Santana? And that she wouldn't even want to sort things out. All this time that he'd been annoyed at her, angry that she thought so low of him, he'd never really, when it came down to it, thought that she actually believed he would mess her around. He'd figured she was hormonal or some shit and that by tomorrow he'd have her pleading with him to forgive her and begging for sex. Which he would totally give her, because he was generous like that.

"I'm going to pick up!" Finn told him, looking scared.

Puck grunted in reply and watched his friend's face closely as he answer the phone. Finn wasn't good at concealing emotions and if Rachel said anything about him he'd be able to get the general gist from his expressions (and ok, that did it. He was officially turning into a girl).

"Hello? Woah, slow down Rach, I have no idea what you just said….at home with Puck, we were just going to – what?"

Puck watched with growing agitation as all colour drained from Finn's face. Shit. Rachel was definitely instructing him to dump him. Who the fuck did that? Not even he broke up with girls over the phone.

But then Finn was speaking again and his voice cracked on the first word. "The baby?" he asked hoarsely. "The baby's coming?"

His eyes found Puck's and they shared a horrified look. Ok, maybe he wasn't getting dumped. But his best friend who didn't even know how to make coffee was about to become a dad. And that was pretty fucking terrifying.

"Ok, we're on our way now" Finn said and hung up.

They both just stood in silence for a second.

"You ok dude?" Puck asked, thinking that Finn looked like he was about to hurl.

"Quinn's gone into labour" Finn told him in a strained voice. He was staring off into space, still holding his phone by his ear.

Puck rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I got that. So we going to go?"

"Yeah. I – Puck, do you think – could you drive?"

"Sure."

It took a couple minutes for him to run upstairs and find his keys in his jacket pocket and then another few to wait for Finn to come out the toilet – he had the sneaking suspicion that he probably didn't want to know what had gone on in there.

Watching Finn trying to fit his house key into the lock when his hands were shaking so much (which would have been some damn funny shit right there if he hadn't been so jittery himself) took another two minutes so by the time they finally got into his truck, he was certain that they wouldn't arrive so late at the hospital to actually miss anything, but late enough for Quinn to be pissed.

He also had a (ominous) feeling that Rachel wasn't going to be happy about it either.

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**Phew! So the baby Quinn/Finn is finally on the way...**

**As always, would love to know what you think :) **


	7. Sunrise

**A/N: thank you for all the alerts and favourites and reviews! **

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**He was officially going to go full out postal on Finn's ass.

Which probably wasn't the correct sentiment to have when your best friend was about to have a kid, but Puck felt that considering the circumstances – the dude had decided that singing "Having my baby" none stop the whole journey to the hospital because he thought it would help to calm his nerves – he was entirely justified in his desire to throttle him by the time he pulled into the car park.

Because nothing, not even the imminent prospect of a new, tiny human being entering into the world, gave any decent man the right to sing the monstrosity that he'd just had to sit through.

If he hadn't felt obliged to make sure Finn arrived for the birth of his son/daughter, he'd have been kicked to the curb a hell of a way back. But seeing as Quinn would never forgive him if he dumped her baby daddy and turned up without him (having witnessed the birth of his sister and his mom's anger at one of the nurses, he knew that a woman in labour having it in for you was pretty much the worst position you could be in) he'd been forced to endure it.

Still, he was thinking that if Quinn didn't suggest it first, he was going to insist that Finn get castrated to stop something as hideous as this ever happening again. Because seriously, his ears were bleeding. Teen pregnancy and glee club did not fucking go together.

Once they were in the hospital – Puck couldn't really remember locking his truck or finding the entrance, but here they were – a nurse at the welcome desk gave them directions to the room Quinn was in and he and Finn were racing up corridors, probably getting more exercise than they had done the whole of the last football season.

He was so tense, and worried about Quinn, and exhausted from trying not to kill Finn, that he hadn't thought about Rachel since leaving the house. So when he first caught sight of her fussing around Quinn bedside, while the blond girl lay back against an enormous stack of pillows, he felt a weird jolting sensation in his stomach. He couldn't decide if he should just act normal, or whether he should stay cool and wait for her to say something first or if he should just beg her to talk to him (because whatever, he knew he was in the right this time, but shit. He'd been in the wrong so many times that he should probably cut her some slack).

But when Rachel heard them approaching and turned round to see who it was, Puck knew that he didn't need to worry. Which he totally hadn't been. At all.

Because her expression was soft and when she caught his eye and smiled a huge happy smile that lit up her entire face he couldn't help but grin back. And then she was running towards him and throwing herself into his arms, and Finn was sidestepping them and hurrying over to Quinn, and she was whispering sorry into his ear and saying of course she trusted him, would he forgive her? And he was telling her that there was nothing to forgive, that none of it mattered. Because honestly, it didn't. As long as he had her in his arms, everything was ok.

At his words Rachel pulled back and looked up timidly into his face.

"But I was so awful" she said. "I doubted you and completely understand why you felt it was necessary to leave and I've been worrying about it ever since. Because I know you wouldn't ever cheat on me, especially with Santana and I was just allowing my insecurities to –"

He rolled his eyes and cut her off with a kiss.

Seriously, now he knew that she didn't really think that badly of him (a warm feeling was spreading through his body that had absolutely nothing to do with the fact she was pressed so tightly against him) he didn't need to hear the apology. All he needed was the hot make-up sex that he was planning on guilt tripping her into, in the empty room he'd seen next to Quinn's on their way in.

When he placed a line of bruising, urgent kisses along her neck, causing her to let out a low moan and stretch upwards so she could grind herself against him, he was convinced he could have here in there in ten seconds flat. And that if he didn't, Quinn and Finn would be getting a floorshow.

"Guys, Quinn's about to have my baby" Finn interrupted. "Do you think you could have that till later?"

Rachel kept her arms twined around his neck. "She's only 3cm dilated" she replied, without turning to face Finn. "She won't have her baby for a while."

The look in her eyes was making it extremely hard for Puck not to blow his load then and there and he wasn't really concentrating when Quinn said she'd really like Rachel next to her. But then Rachel was sighing and pulling away from him and instead of wrapped around his cock like he'd like it to be, her hand was in his and she was dragging him over to Quinn's bedside.

"Do you need anything?" she asked the blond girl. "Another pillow? A glass of water?"

"Medication?" Puck put in. "I've heard that labour's a bitch."

Rachel squeezed his hand; her way of telling him to shut the hell up.

"Maybe you want to go and get Quinn a drink?" she said. It wasn't really a suggestion. This was him being sent off on an unnecessary mission purely to get him out of the way. He was about to object when Quinn suddenly started shouting out in pain and then he really was backing away as fast as he could.

"Contractions" Rachel announced, rushing forward and taking the other girl's hand. "Breathe Quinn, breathe. Just keep nice and relaxed. Finn, go round the other side of the bed and help her out."

"I'll go get that drink" said Puck, to nobody in particular. He shot Finn an "unlucky man" kind of look as he escaped out of the room. Shut up, he wasn't a wimp. If there was a choice between finding a snack machine and listening to Quinn scream the place down, he sure as hell knew which one he'd rather be doing. And he was a dude. Wasn't there some kind of unwritten rule that he was allowed to hang out in the canteen or whatever until it was all over?

A couple of hours later and he was sitting in one of the chairs in the waiting room down the hall, eating a bag of chips and flicking through a motor magazine. Earlier he'd gone and bought a teddy bear from the gift shop so nobody could accuse him of not using his time productively, and since then he'd been keeping out of everybody's way as hard as he could.

So when he saw Rachel walking down the corridor towards him, he immediately picked the cuddly toy up and waved it in her direction.

"Cute" she said as she collapsed into the seat next to him.

He reached over and took her hand.

"What's happening?" he asked.

"The doctor's just been and she's eight centimetre's dilated."

"That's good?"

"Only two to go" she smiled. "Finn's freaking out. He can't understand why it's taking so long."

"Dude has serious microwave mentality" Puck shrugged. "He probably expected it to be over in twenty minutes."

"Her contractions are getting closer together. I don't think it's going to be much longer."

Puck grinned. "No kid of Quinn's is likely to hang about."

"It really makes you think though, doesn't it?" said Rachel, leaning in towards him and resting her head on his shoulder. "I mean, our best friends are going to have a baby. Their lives are about to change forever."

"I guess they are."

To be honest he hadn't really considered this before. It had taken him long enough to get over the whole pregnancy thing (when you had sex as much as he did – prior to Rachel of course – with a variety of girls, you had to be fucking religious about protection and he couldn't get over how Finn could have been so stupid. Then again, he'd heard some place that condoms were only 99 percent effective. And _shit_, he hadn't been to a math class in over three years but even he knew that it meant one time in a hundred a little guy was going to get through. Which gave him a panic attack just thinking about it). So even though he'd watched Quinn gradually ballooning over the last nine months, and gone with Finn to pick out furniture for the nursery, he hadn't actual thought about what would happen once the baby had arrived.

The only thing he'd really considered about after the birth was that Quinn was totally going to be the hottest milf for miles around. But other than that he hadn't given it much thought. Now he was starting to get concerned.

Did it mean that he and Finn's weekly x-box marathon was out? Would Quinn want him at home changing diapers and heating milk up or whatever you had to do for a baby? And if Quinn was busy the whole time too, it would mean that Rachel wouldn't be getting her usual fix of girly movies and shit with her. Which in all probability meant that he'd have to sit through fucking hours of _friends_ box-sets.

"You think we'll still be able to hang out and stuff?" he asked Rachel, trying to keep the worry out of his voice. He was looking for reassurance, but he didn't need her to know that.

"You and Finn you mean?" she asked, tilting her head and looking up at him.

"Yeah."

"Well he's going to be very busy for the first few weeks Noah. It will take them a while to adapt to having a baby to look after. But once they've got into a routine, you'll be able to see him just as much. You don't need to worry that you'll lose your best friend."

"I wasn't worried" he said automatically. Shit, she really did know him too well.

"Of course not" she said idly, "but in case you _were_, I hope that makes you feel better."

"You know what would really make me feel better?" he asked, dropping his voice so only she could hear.

"Mmm?"

He smirked at the way she was already angling her body towards his, her breath coming quicker as he pressed a kiss to her temple.

"Making use of that free bed in the room next to Quinn's" he murmured against her skin.

"But Quinn needs me right now" Rachel protested.

He noticed that despite her words, she didn't pull away. He totally had her.

"Quinn has Finn" he said, dropping her hand and moving his own up so it was cupping her cheek.

"And you?" she asked breathlessly.

"I want you all to myself."

Rachel's eyelids fluttered closed as he leant forward and kissed her. It started out sweet and unhurried, her lips soft under his. She tasted of strawberry lipgloss and he caught a smell of the fruity shampoo she used as her ran his fingers through her hair. Then her arms came up, wrapping tightly around his neck and he let out a low groan when her body pressed against his. Running his tongue over her bottom lip and then nipping gently at it made her part her mouth for him and everything was suddenly hot and out of control, both of them fighting for dominance as his hands moved from her hair to her hips, pulling her against his arousal. He'd kind of forgotten that they were in a public place, and she seemed to have to, considering how her hands had found their way to the waist band of his jeans and her nails were digging at the skin between his belt and his shirt.

"Rach" he murmured, hating himself for breaking the kiss but knowing it was for the best in the long run. She might not care now, but she'd kill him later if he came down on her in a hospital corridor. Plus he was kind of freaked out by the old man who was staring at them from the seat in the corner. "We have to get to that room."

Rachel murmured an assent, her lips still working on his throat. When he picked her up, she wrapped her legs around his waist, her mouth never leaving his skin and then he was carrying her as fast as he fucking could back down the corridor.

They'd nearly made it to the empty room, when cock-block Hudson worked his extraordinary powers yet again.

"Shit! You guys its coming! The baby's coming!"

Puck groaned as Finn came rushing out of Quinn's room, his face lit up with anticipation.

"Can't you tell Quinn to like, hold on a bit?"

"Noah!"

Rachel was already scrambling down from his arms and following Finn inside. She turned to see if he was following her and her eyes were shining so brightly with a mixture of anxiety and excitement that he couldn't stay pissed. He sighed and headed in after her.

The next twenty minutes were spent pacing up and down the corridor outside the delivery room – Rachel and Finn were in with Quinn, but he'd manfully opted to remain outside in case it got too crowded – listening to Finn shouting things at the doctor and the world in general.

"Come on Quinn, push! You can do it – Does she need pain relief or something? Her face is _seriously_ red…. Sorry! Sorry baby, I know its hard work I was just saying…I would try but I don't have a uterus, otherwise I would totally be helping you out – Is it supposed to take this long? In films it's always over in like – Oh Jesus it's coming! Fuck I'm so not ready for this – Ouch! I mean, I'm ready for _this,_ but I'm just not ready for this, you know? Oh god, ok… Is that…? A head! It has a head! Get in! Push, you're doing great….Just one more push Quinn, you can do it….Yes! You did it! Doctor, does it have a – no? It's a girl? Quinn it's a girl!"

A few minutes later and a beaming Rachel was pulling him into the room, tears pouring down her cheeks.

"It's a baby girl" she told him as she laced her fingers through his.

Quinn was lying in the bed, a small, white bundle in her arms. She was crying and smiling all at the same time and Finn had his arm wrapped round the both of them and was looking down at the baby with an expression that Puck had only ever seen on his face the time he'd got a discount at Dunkin' Doughnuts. He looked up as Puck came in and grinned.

"She's so small" he said in amazement.

Puck grinned back. "Must take after Quinn. She's obviously missed out on the freakishly tall gene."

"Isn't she beautiful?" Rachel sighed.

"In a wrinkly kind of way, I guess so" he admitted, gazing down at the baby in Quinn's arms.

Quinn smiled. "We're going to call her Samantha."

"Sammy for short?" Puck raised an eyebrow and looked over at Finn. "Dude, I thought you hated that name?"

Finn shook his head, unable to take his eyes off his daughter. "I think it's perfect. She's perfect. She's the most perfect thing in the world."

As the nurses came back in and Puck and Rachel moved away from the bed to let them pass, he leaned down and whispered in her ear.

"I can think of one exception."

Which yeah, was cheesy as hell. But whatever. He knew how to keep his girl happy and telling her she was perfect was a sure fire way of doing that. What could he say? She had a pathological need to be the best at everything.

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**So close to 50 reviews, i would literally die of happiness if that happened. So please review review review :) Whether you love it or hate it! **


	8. Winds of Change

**A/N: thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! you guys are amazing :) **

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**

Quinn was looking pale and drained when she pulled open the front door to let Rachel and Puck in.

She felt like she hadn't slept for decades – or at least weeks – and in the case of the later, she actually hadn't. At least, not the proper REM cycle kind of sleep that Rachel would insist first time mums should be getting. It wasn't like she had expected that being a teen mom was going to be easy, but she certainly hadn't foreseen just how time consuming having a baby really was. Even when it was Finn's turn to get up in the night and deal with Sammy, she lay nervously awake wondering if something was seriously wrong. She knew that Mrs Hudson would be on hand if there was a situation she didn't know how to handle, but she hated feeling dependent. She wanted to be able to care for her baby _herself_. Because what kind of mother was she otherwise?

She thought that she was doing ok thought, and couldn't believe how much she loved her daughter and how strong her love had grown in such a short space of time. She would do anything for her. Literally. She'd even brave the stench of the boy's locker room. Her own health, and safety and happiness was now only a background concern to the wellbeing of her child. Even if it did meaning looking like a complete wreck for a large percentage of the time.

At present her hair was up in a messy bun and she had a stained bib draped over one shoulder, which Puck gave a wide birth to when he passed her into the house. Her and Finn hadn't left the house much since coming back from the hospital, so their friends had taken it upon themselves to bring the outside world to them (last weekend they'd turned up with Chinese take-away and a huge congratulations card signed by the rest of the glee club. Puck had taken full credit for the idea, but she knew full well who the orchestrator behind it was. Lurid pink balloons and a heartfelt poem had Rachel Berry written all over it).

She led them through in to the den, which looked like the site of a bomb blast with teddy bears and rattles sprawled all over the floor and an exhausted Finn collapsed on the sofa. He had taken to fatherhood amazingly (well, not in terms of any of the practical skills – it had taken her three solid hours to teach him how to change a nappy and another three to convince him to handle a dirty one) but he was so enthusiastic in every other sense. And that was as much as she could hope for, she suspected.

"Ah. Domestic bliss" Puck deadpanned, as he sat down next to him on the couch. "You look like you could do with a good nights sleep."

"I don't even remember what sleep _is_" Finn groaned, not bothering to get up – or even open his eyes for that matter – to greet his friends.

Puck rolled his eyes. "It's been three weeks dude, and you're in this for what, eighteen years? Man up."

"You don't understand what it's like. The constant screaming, the sick, the nappy changes at two am…"

"Should have used a condom."

"Noah!" said Rachel reproachfully, looking meaningfully at Quinn who had just re-entered the room carrying Sammy (despite Finn's protests, the nickname had stuck).

"It's not like she can understand what I'm saying babe. I could say fuck and she wouldn't know. Hell, _we_ could fuck and she wouldn't notice."

"Noah!" Rachel was scandalised that he was using such foul language in front of a new born child.

He grinned at her reaction.

"Finn on the other hand, is very impressionable" Quinn admonished him, sitting down on the other side of Puck. "So I'd rather you didn't say that kind of thing in front of him."

"I fear he was corrupted long ago" Rachel sighed.

"Probably true" agreed Finn. "I mean, look who I have for a best friend."

"I resent that! I'm a great best friend."

"When was the last time you bought me a birthday present?"

Puck hazarded a guess. "Last year?"

"Try ten years ago."

"That's totally untrue! I bought you those x-box games when you turned seventeen."

Finn was indignant. "Which you_ borrowed_ the day after my birthday and I haven't seen since!"

"Yeah well, you sucked at them anyways."

Rachel hastily interjected before a fight broke out. She never could understand how boys got quite so heated about silly animated games where all people did was shoot at each other or race cars. Puck had tried to get her to play once, just she hadn't been able to get the hang of it (if she was honest with herself, this was where her real dislike of the game came from. She hated being bad at anything).

"Did you know that Mike and Brittany got together?" she asked. She wasn't usually prone to such idle gossip, but considering that it was two members of the glee club she was keen to discuss the development in case it changed the dynamics of the group and affected their chances at Sectionals next year.

"As in Mike Chang?" said Finn, his brow furrowing.

Puck rolled his eyes. "Dude, how many other Mike's do we know?"

"But I thought he liked Tina."

"That was _ages_ ago" said Quinn. "He's liked Brittany for a good few months now. Did he finally ask her out then?" she asked Rachel.

"Well actually he bumped into her in the park. Apparently she'd lost her dog –"

"Which turned out to be imaginary" Puck put in. He wasn't sure how Brittany got through life, but she seemed happy enough.

"– and after they'd spent all morning looking, he invited her to dinner. And things just flowed from there.

"Yeah" Puck smirked. "Flowed all the way back to Mike's place and in to her pants…"

Finn laughed and the two girls exchanged pained looks.

"Why do you always have to be so vulgar?" Quinn demanded.

"Part of my nature babe."

"And you!" added Rachel, prodding Finn in the chest. "Sitting there and encouraging him."

"How did I encourage him? And it's true anyway. Brittany always puts out on the first date."

"S'true" agreed Puck. "Lots of girls could learn a thing or two from her."

"I really do despair of you, sometimes" said Quinn, raising her eyes to heaven. "Sex obsessed. The both of you."

"I'm not as bad as Artie" Puck argued. "Since I gave him those tips in the bedroom department, he's been begging San to do it in no end of places. All I told him was to be creative with positions. And its likes I've created a monster."

Quinn scrunched up her nose. "What kind of places?" She was fascinated in a horrified kind of way. San had always been the risky sort, but Artie had never occurred to her as the type of guy to be quite so daring.

"School toilets, his parent's bed, Mr Schue's car" Puck reeled off. "To name but a few."

"A teacher's vehicle?" said Rachel, aghast. "You didn't tell me about that!"

"I didn't want you getting ideas."

"As if I would suggest such a thing!"

"I don't know, you sometimes get that kinky glint in your eye…"

Quinn watched the inevitable argument – Puck was smirking while Rachel berated him – with an almost painful nostalgia, and before she knew it, she was crying. She wasn't entirely sure why, but she'd found that her emotions had been particularly volatile since the birth. The smallest things had been reducing her to tears, like the other morning when they'd run out of milk.

"Baby what's wrong?" asked Finn in alarm, getting to his feet and hurrying to her end of the sofa so he could put his arm around her. He'd read in the pregnancy book that Rachel had given him that some mother's experienced "post baby blues" and he was constantly on the look out for it. So far he was sure that the only reason Quinn got upset was because she was so tired. Hell, he was exhausted too. He'd cried himself a couple of nights ago when they'd cancelled a re-run of the Simpsons he'd wanted to watch.

Quinn hugged Sammy closer to her chest and sniffed.

"I don't know. It's just – I've missed this. All of us hanging out together. I feel like we don't get to see you anymore."

"Oh Quinn, I'm so sorry!" said Rachel. "We'll come over more often from now on. We just assumed you'd want some alone time with Sammy."

"I want that too" Quinn said thickly, "but I don't want to lose the rest of my life either."

"You're not getting rid of Rach that easily" Puck told her. "She's like fungus."

Rachel thwacked his arm.

"Despite that horrible and entirely unflattering simile, Noah's right. Of course things are going to be difficult for a little while. But we're all still here for you."

Quinn started to smile, but it was at this moment that Sammy woke up and proceeded to scream at the top of her lungs.

Puck felt this was their cue to leave – it wasn't that he found the crying grating or anything… ok, whatever. He totally did. But Quinn _really_ didn't need to find that out. He'd told her in the hospital that he thought Sammy was more wrinkly than the other babies and she'd got this manic glint in her eye like she was about to skin him alive or something. So he reminded Rachel that they were supposed to be going shopping for her dad's birthday present. Which he seriously didn't want to do either, but it was the lesser of two evils.

"Oh! I completely forgot" she said. "And he's leaving for his business trip tonight so I need to give it to him. Would you mind terribly if we left?"

"Nah go ahead" said Finn, who could see hours of desperately trying to get Sammy to get back to sleep stretching out before him. He didn't need Rachel fussing around and Puck making inappropriate comments as well.

"See you soon" Rachel promised Quinn, and they got up to leave.

When they were seated in Puck's truck, she turned to him with a thoughtful expression.

"You know what Quinn was saying back there? About worrying that Sammy would take over every aspect of their lives?"

"Yeah."

"I think that along with shopping for dad, we should get them presents too. Presents that they would want, rather than presents for the baby. They need a little pick me up, don't you think?"

Puck nodded. "You know what _I_ think?"

"What?"

"That I've got the most awesome girlfriend ever."

He grinned and pulled her against him for a kiss.

"Is this your way of telling me you think it's a good idea?" Rachel asked a few minutes later.

"Yes. I sure as hell ain't telling you that they'll appreciate the sentiment. Because that would be so not badass."

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"No."

"Why not?"

"Just no."

"How about this one then?"

"Are you insane, Berry?"

"Do not Berry me, Puckerman. Well what about these?"

"They're pink."

"That's not a valid argument against them. And Quinn loves Pink!"

"This is a joint present. And I'm vetoing it."

"We get vetos?"

"Yeah. Three each."

"Fine then. I veto your first suggestion for Finn's present."

"The beer?"

"Yes."

"Why? That was a great idea."

"It would be irresponsible for him to get drunk whilst taking care of a baby."

"Ok. Well I'm vetoing "_Greatest Broadway Hits_" for Quinn."

"On what grounds?"

"It would be irresponsible to subject the baby to such crappy music."

….

"Rach?"

"I'm not speaking to you."

"You kind of just did."

….

"I'm sorry?"

"Take back what you said about Broadway."

"Fine. It's not as crappy as _some_ music. Wait! Come back. I didn't mean it!"

"So we can get the cd then?"

"Fuck sake. Ok."

"Love you Noah."

Puck rolled his eyes. How had it come to this? Being so well and truly under the thumb?

"Love you too, Rach."

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**Sorry this chapter is so short, I promise that the next one will be longer! **

**Any suggestions for what should happen next? **

**Please review :) **


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